


Dr. Mia

by XScribe



Series: Off The Map [9]
Category: Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bi-Gender Character(s), Medical Examination, Mpreg, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 16:45:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XScribe/pseuds/XScribe
Summary: A house is rented in Baja California and Mia takes over as the resident doctor.





	Dr. Mia

September to October 

Making the trip to Baja had been an extreme culture shock to Mia who at least knew the language, so it must have been a far worse one to Jesse. She had to wonder if he would have agreed to come along, had he known. Then again, he’d said that all that mattered was that her brother didn’t forsake him. The extent of the culture shock was compounded when they left the four-star hotel for a cheaper one deeper in the interior of Baja to save money and so Dom could return to his job as a mechanic while they looked for a house.

Aside from the different feeling environment, everything was foreign and unknown to them. Fortunately O'Conner could read and understand the language along with Mia, allowing them to work things out together as they house-hunted and learned to shop in the strange land. If she’d not been there, Mia could see how Jesse would have been fully lost and of little help to O'Conner in carrying out the tasks her brother had entrusted to them. To make matters worse, the second week they were there they began to get sick. Not Dom, but it started with Brian. Dom admitted he’d already been through his bout when he’d first arrived in Baja. They’d all made an effort to use nothing but bottled water, name brand drinks, alcohol, or pasteurized milk, but that didn’t help. It was the same water-borne pathogen that afflicted almost all American travelers who went south of the border. They’d learned soon after arriving that Mexico had few public restrooms and those that were available were perpetually in disrepair, so they wisely chose to stay put in their hotel rooms until they got over their illnesses. It was the first time Mia got use her doctoring skills since leaving LA. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to perform as thorough an exam on Brian as she would have liked.

A lot had to be done while they looked for the house. The weather in Baja was cool and cloudy or hazy every day. It turned out O'Conner had no clothes for cool weather and almost no maternity wear, so time had to be spent shopping for him. He had no interest. If he’d had his way, he would have been content to buy several long-sleeved t-shirts and baggy sports pants so they could hurry up and get back to house-hunting. Mia didn’t allow it. He’d buy her whatever she needed and always treated her amicably and undeniably with care, even when he hadn’t been well. Furthermore, she began to see that he never sided with the restrictions Dom fought to control her with; instead he’d try and cut her breaks.

So she and Jesse took Brian maternity clothes shopping when her brother was working. Jesse was fairly useless at the job, but was always ready to help even when he hadn’t the faintest idea how.

Their stay at the hotel wasn’t pleasant. In fact, Mia found herself almost missing the two-bedroom suite in Ensenada. The hotel was a lot grungier and had no twenty-four hour room service. It had no room service at all, although it did have a swimming pool that didn’t compare with the four-star hotel’s pool. They never visited it either, weather not permitting. With her room between Jesse’s and Dom and Brian’s, she continued to be watched over like a hawk by her brother.

By mid-October they found a house. It wasn’t anything Mia would have looked at twice, although admittedly it was the best and cleanest one they’d seen so far. As soon as Dom had heard enough about it, he was willing to go look at it and talk to the owner on Sunday, his day off.

So when they made the trip to the house and Dom agreed to sign the rent papers with Brian, she knew they were going to be stuck there for a while. Mia made up her mind instantly to take the front bedroom, as far from the master as possible even though it meant giving up the walk-in closet in the middle bedroom to do so. To no longer have to bear the noises in her brother’s bedroom was worth it.

The house had three bedrooms and a lot to be desired, with only one indoor bathroom, the second more like a shoddy afterthought with a tiny shower added to the detached two-car garage. Like their house back in Echo Park, it had a utility room, but a larger, eat-in kitchen, something new to her and Dom. Also new to them was the fact that it was only one-story, surrounded by dirt, rocks, and broken concrete, rather than grass and foliage. Equally broken cinderblocks made up the fencing. At least the houses were few and far between, with large lots and neighbors with chickens or other animals. Small as the town was and with as little traffic as it had, it only took Dom ten minutes or so to drive to and from work from there. They probably owned more vehicles than anyone else in town.

~~~

Monday—October 16

They moved into the house at the beginning of the week. Brian was told to take it easy, but of course he didn’t. They had to rent furniture from a local store and after the movers unloaded it in the living room, he and Jesse did almost all of the arranging except for what Mia could do. That meant Brian helped move beds, sofas, and a refrigerator. There were no hook-ups for a dishwasher, or they would have got one of those, too. At least Brian left the washer and dryer for Dom to put in place when he got home. As far as Mia could see, Brian seemed easily more fit and capable than poor Jesse who still suffered pain and coughing when he overdid it.

It meant all of them had to share a bathroom now. Just how much privacy could she retain or did she want from Brian, she wondered. Or she could use the one out in the garage, which was initially found to be inhabited by spiders. That would mean going all the way outside in a thin robe, something she wasn’t willing to do on a cold morning. In fact, they’d have to share the whole house, unlike the separate hotel rooms. Mia wasn’t sure how that was going to work. She wouldn’t mind Brian catching her in the shower, but it was a whole other thing to have Jesse walk in on her. This perturbed her enough to make her check the door lock mechanism that first day. Not surprisingly, it was broken; the door didn’t even close all the way. Not to worry, though; as soon as she voiced a complaint, Brian and Jesse had it fixed and working with a new knob and locking device even before she had to use it. That was a little more efficient than she’d meant them to be. Right away she began to see that Brian was even more ideal than she’d thought. To have for herself, anyway.

Because as soon as Dom came home from work, she began to see something more than she’d counted on; without a thought for her presence, her brother and his wife took to openly kissing or engaging in other evident forms of affection.

The first time they did it on Dom’s return, it struck her so hard, she had to look away as she realized she’d never seen them do it before but at the wedding. Now, to her dismay, it occurred to her that they had license to do it all the time. That was after Brian had treated her in such a comfortable, friendly manner while he helped her make dinner. Suddenly he rudely reminded her that he was married to someone else when he excitedly embraced and lovingly kissed Dom like they were wildly in love and had been separated for years.

That hurt.

So much, Mia had a hard time choking on her seemingly dry dinner while the two fed each other from their plates. To manage, she served herself a cold beer from the new fridge to wash it down.

Over dinner, Dom had more news. “I told the boss I knew two more great mechanics in need of jobs. There’s a guy who often shows up drunk or hung over that the boss has been wanting to fire. Only he couldn’t lose another mechanic, so he’s been putting up with his shit. Well, no more. Either you, Brian, or Jesse, can take the guy’s place. The boss wants you two to come by tomorrow and fill out applications. You know we can use the money while we start racing. The Integra probably needs a little work, since she hasn’t raced--”

“Hell, yeah!” Brian enthused. “I’ll come to the garage tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Jesse concurred. “Me, too. I'm healed enough.”

“All right,” Dom nodded, scooping up some Spanish rice with a tortilla.

“But,” Mia pointed out with uncertainty, “Brian’s pregnant. Isn't that going to be a problem?”

Brian was quick to respond. “It’s against the law to discriminate against a new hire because of pregnancy.”

“She’s right,” Jesse said.

“Does that law,” Mia furthered, “even apply here?”

Immediately, Brian looked ruffled. “I don't know. That can't be right.”

Dom admitted, “I hadn’t thought of that. It could make a difference.”

“We don’t have to say anything,” Brian attempted. “Then again, it’s not like I’ve got any credentials to show I'm qualified. I don’t have any of the cars I've worked on to prove it.”

“We can't not say anything,” Dom said gently. “You show.”

“No I don’t.” Brian looked down the long-sleeved, oversized, t-shirt he’d thrown in with the clothes they’d bought and had been wearing to move furniture. Like it or not, he looked pregnant under the dark brown cotton knit. “Not hardly,” he added.

“I can talk ’em into hiring you,” Dom assured O'Conner. “You come ahead and apply. Don’t wear your wedding ring, like I don’t; like I’ve said, I don’t want to fuck it up and I don’t trust the guys who do business there not to stab me in the back to steal it, so I sure as hell don’t want them trying to steal your ring, either. We’ll tell the jefe we’re married and expecting our first kid and see what he says. I told him I used to own my own garage, so he knows I'm not just talkin’ shit. He might decide to hire both you guys. You’re both great mechanics.”

Since her brother always got his way, Mia didn’t doubt they’d both be hired on his word. Though her life would become more boring in one way, she’d finally be on her own and thus, it would be more exciting in other ways. She, too, would find a job and be able to breathe.

~~~

Tuesday—October 17

In the morning, she saw the disadvantage of having the room at the far end of the house; she couldn’t hear when the bathroom was free so she could go use it. Fuck it. Putting on a pair of sneakers and her warm robe over her flannel gown, she went out to check and found the bathroom door shut and locked. She bundled her fleece robe around her and went out to the garage. It was creepy and cold, and she expected to find spiders in there. Fortunately, their efforts from the day before had been thorough. Even in the shower. It was just too damn cold out there, so she’d wait to use the indoor shower. In the meantime, she’d better get inside, as everyone was probably expecting her to start breakfast.

That wasn’t the case. For the past three weeks or so, Dom had stopped shaving his head. It was growing in slowly, reminding her what he used to look like. It was still too short to really show when it was wet, particularly because it was so dark. But because Brian’s curls were wet, she figured they were done with their shower. They were at the stove, making breakfast. Was this the kind of influence marriage was going to have on Dom, she wondered. Otherwise, he only cooked to barbecue or for special occasions. Perhaps he considered this a special occasion? Or perhaps he was trying to impress his wife.

At least this gave Mia a chance to go shower. They’d noted her entrance, but she preferred not to stick around, as she didn’t really want to watch them bill and coo over the stove. Jesse appeared in the dining area as she was heading to go shower. His hair was wet, too, and he was dressed in jeans and buttoning up a shirt, decent enough to go for a job interview at a garage. He was still in flip-flop sandals, however. “When did you get out of the shower?” she asked, to judge if the water heater had warmed the next tankful.

“I dunno,” he looked taken off guard. “Ten minutes ago…?”

~~~

That morning ritual didn’t become a regular one. Dom’s jefe declined to hire the missus. Even though Jesse couldn’t understand or speak hardly a word of Spanish, the argument he apparently pitched to Dom was that he needed a mechanic who could change out tires, transmissions, and engines, tasks that could be too risky for an expectant mom. And he didn’t even know Brian was high-risk. It was more likely he didn’t want to have to pay maternity leave in a few short months.

So Jesse began attending Dom to work. For Mia, the arrangement couldn’t have been more ideal. Well, unless Brian had never married her brother. That meant, however, that she got to spend the days alone with Brian until she found a job. Which she set about actively seeking. She started out by buying newspapers until they had phone service. She was immediately joined by Brian who apparently wasn’t content to sit at home all day and play housewife. So they began their search.

It was ironic. In fact, Mia and Brian were the most highly qualified residents present, having both formal education and experience. He was a trained police officer, and rightly should have worked in his field of expertise. Just like Mia should have. But neither could. They’d have to divulge their credentials and real names, and couldn’t, lest their whereabouts be traced. It was also highly ironic that now that Mia was alone with him, she felt nervous. Over breakfast, their conversation had to be kept at an appropriate distance. After that, Brian had walked Dom out to the Ramcharger to see him off to work. Mia happened to catch sight of them as she was tossing towels in the basket in the utility room and once again saw them kissing, holding each other like Dom was going off to war. Meanwhile, Jesse gawped at them unabashedly from the rear of the truck, looking touched, smiling wistfully. At which point Mia quickly turned away and returned to the kitchen.

It occurred to Mia that her brother and Brian had been discreet up until moving into the house. She’d not seen them interact overtly romantically before because they’d done this in the privacy of their own hotel room, out of sight. Gone were the walls, but they were bound to continue their behavior. This was very unlike the Dominic-Letty relationship. The fact was, Letty had often been too graphic, coarse, and sometimes vulgar right in front of family and friends. She didn’t care who saw. It was inappropriate and distastefully tacky.

From the beginning, Mama didn’t like Letty. Even as Mia’s friend, Mama hadn’t approved. She used to tell Mia to find better friends and quit hanging out with Letty. Actually, their friendship had initially been based merely on Letty’s proximity to the Torettos’ house. So she hung around more frequently than others, even though she’d never been Mia’s best friend.

That had been nothing compared to what happened later. Mama’s attitude toward Letty took a turn for the worse when she started trying to impress Dom for something beyond friendship. When that started happening, Mama’s dislike quickly turned to abhorrence. Pop didn’t like her too much, either. He had complete disapproval for the way she dressed in front of Dom when she began trying attract him, and furthermore, Pop let Mia know in no uncertain terms that she’d better never dress or act like Letty. It had been a minor point of contention in the Toretto household that Mia couldn’t dress like her friends, but she would never go against Pop’s rules. After he was gone, she understood why he’d been so insistent, and felt all the more honor-bound to uphold his conventions. Of Brian, however, Mia couldn’t imagine how Mama and Pop wouldn’t have given their full, unflagging approval.

Dealing with the Dominic-Letty relationship had often been uncomfortable. Brian, however, was completely different. Since she’d learned of the abuse he’d suffered by his captors and then a little about his family situation and that he’d actually been subjected to foster care, Mia found herself feeling not just love but the strongest sympathy for him that only intensified her love. Despite his passionate kissing with her brother out by the garage, Mia felt no disdain towards O'Conner when he came in the back door a short while later. But she was decidedly anxious to be alone with him while they cleaned up after breakfast and then when she assisted while he hooked up the washer and dryer so they could begin on the backed up laundry.

The next few days of being alone with him were even worse. He took care of all the repairs the house needed while she did housework over which they talked about everything but what she longed to. They poured over the classified ads, and then the internet when Jesse fixed up their phone service and plugged in the Ethernet cable to the computer Brian had set up in the living room. To be so close to Brian’s tanned skin and shaggy, sun-kissed, bright golden curls stepped up her breathing rate and made her pulse throb. She had wanted to be his wife, not his sister-in-law, but as always, Dom got everything he wanted and never she. 

~~~

Friday—October 20

It had been overcast and gray ever since they’d moved into the house and that Friday was no exception. Every day, Mia deliberated over what to wear. Alone with Brian, she wanted to dress to impress him. She hadn’t forgotten the way he’d looked at her in the dressing room of that formal dress shop in LA those weeks ago. The way he’d complimented her in earnest. Since then, he sometimes cast his eyes at her in a similar fashion, but it never lasted and he never said a word. Then, after Dom returned home, he never seemed to notice her anymore other than as his sister-in-law. That morning she was tempted to wear something truly noticeable. Like one of the party dresses he’d bought her. Right. Like that wouldn’t be too obvious. Finally she wore her long-sleeved royal purple, mid-waist knit dress with buttons down the bodice. Quite deliberately, she left some buttons undone. On the sofa nearest the table where the computer was set up, she held the newspaper, hardly paying attention to the classified ads that morning, admiring him instead. “How’ve you been feelin’, Brian?”

Busily, he scrolled through online job sites. “Fine,” he answered noncommittally.

Like every morning there, Brian had dressed warmly. And as usual, he’d seen Dom off before he left, lingering outside with him. So Brian was still in his unzipped hoodie, dawdling with his glass of pasteurized milk. Despite the fact that beneath it, he was wearing one of his oversized t-shirts over one of the new pairs of soft knit maternity pants she’d just chosen for him, he still looked good. He always looked good.

The only doctoring she’d done on him as of yet, for his bout of stomach trouble, had consisted of taking his temperature and vital signs, palpating his abdomen, listening to the fetal heart rate, and checking for swollen lymph nodes. Except maybe to note that he looked a bit pale and dry. After he’d responded to the antibiotics and sports drinks, there was really nothing more for her to do.

“It’s just that…” she hesitated, knowing he’d most likely blow her off, “it’s just that…I-I haven’t had a chance to perform an actual obstetric exam on you yet.” Damn, she couldn’t help but think she’d be less nervous if she had a good, strong margarita in her, but it was too early in the morning for that. “And…and I feel remiss as your doctor, you know. That’s what I was ‘hired’ to do, isn't it?”

“You weren’t ‘hired,’” Brian said, yawning. He was always overly sleepy in the mornings because he wouldn’t take any caffeine other than in chocolate. They were finding that few foods—even name brands—didn’t taste the same as in the US. As a med student Mia couldn’t argue the point about caffeine in pregnancy, so she didn’t. “You’re family.”

“If I recall,” she pointed out, “Dom asked me to come so I could be your doctor.”

“I guess so,” he allowed, seeming unperturbed. “But it’s not like that’s the only reason he wanted you to come along.”

She gathered her patience. “Then what, pray tell, was the other reason he wanted me to come along?”

Mouse in hand, he clicked on the next page. “To make sure I don’t have any problems with the pregnancy, I guess. But that’s incidental.”

“So isn't it time for your monthly checkup by now? The last time you saw your doctor was when Dom came back to LA, wasn’t it? So hasn’t it been over a month since you saw your doctor?”

“I don't know, but I'm fine,” he mumbled and exchanged the mouse for his milk glass. “I thought it would be done on as as-needed basis. I'm not having any problems, so you don’t need to examine me.”

“I’m serious.” She folded up the paper and lay it down on the table, then got up to perch on the sofa arm immediately behind him. “You guys said you were supposed to have an ultrasound, but bailed on your appointment. I really should check you out.”

He paused, his back still to her. “I told you, I’m fine.”

“Look, based on the fact that you didn’t have your ultrasound, I should be keeping a close eye on you.”

“You sure?” He seemed decidedly distracted.

“Do you think I haven’t learned a thing from my courses as a med student? From a medical standpoint, I’d say yes, I am sure. It’s very important. Yet you act like it’s no big deal if I don’t examine you.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

She was stunned. “Okay?”

“Sure. Take my vital signs.”

“I think I can do a lot more than that.” She sprang forward and took his arm. “Come on. Let’s go check you out.”

Surprised, he looked to her. “But, really. I feel fine.”

“That’s great, but that’s not really the point of my examination. It’s to see how the baby is doing.”

“I think he’s doing fine.”

“You think, but you don’t know. I’m supposed to be monitoring his status, you know.”

That finally seemed to register. “Okay, I guess.” Brian rose and picked up his glass. “Where? Right here on the sofa?”

“No, no.” She thought a moment. “In my room. I’ll have to use what supplies I have.” On their way, she considered what she’d purchased thus far in Mexico. It was much easier for her to purchase many things that weren’t available over-the-counter in the US. And she’d taken advantage of this when stopped in at a farmacia to treat him for dehydration and dysentery. While there, she’d been reminded that she’d soon need to treat him for his pregnancy, and picked up more things then and over time.

Behind her, while she rummaged in her closet for her nylon red and black doctor bag and drapes, Brian waited. “Before you sit down,” she said, “I’ll need a urine sample. From here on out, I’ll need them first thing in the morning when I do exams. I’ll still need one right now, though. We can do another one in the morning, so I can get the best read.” From within the doctor bag, she took out the jar of test strips and the plastic-wrapped specimen cups. “Here,” she went on after she ripped open the pack. “Go get me a specimen while I set up.”

Posing no argument, he traded his milk glass with her, then left the room.

In his absence, she lay a disposable medical drape on the foot of her bed and began laying out the instruments she’d need. These she placed on another disposable drape on the aluminum trunk Brian had bought for her when they were purchasing furniture. She’d needed something to make up for the quilt rack she’d left back home. Furthermore, it also served well for storage. It easily fit in the rear of the Ramcharger. By pulling it slightly away from the foot of the bed, it could make up for the lack of stirrups.

When he returned, she was ready for it. She’d removed a test strip from the jar. The lamp on her writing desk was already on over the notebook she’d placed open to use as his chart to record all her findings in. Taking the specimen cup from him, she motioned at the bed. “I’ll do the exam there. You can go get ready in your room. Take everything off and put on a robe. I can give you the blanket to--”

“Everything?” He echoed, eyes widening. “You want me to take all my clothes off?”

The thought excited the hell out of her but she fought to remain calm. “Well, yes. How else can I do a thorough examination?” Acting nonchalant may calm him. She turned back to the desk to perform the urine dip.

“Why does it have to be that thorough? I told you, I feel fine. You can take my vital signs and listen to the baby’s heart. That’s all I need.”

“That wouldn’t constitute a thorough exam.” Waiting for the seconds to count down, she glanced at the clock on the desk. Actually, she’d need her watch for his vital signs. She’d have to get one of them out. 

“Maybe we should wait to do a more thorough exam when Dom is here.”

Again, she had to fight to keep from sounding agitated. “Whatever for?”

“I-I don't know. I think I’d feel better if he were here.”

“Feel better? I thought you said you felt fine.”

“I-I do. I mean I think I’d be more comfortable if he were here.”

“You’re not comfortable? What would you like me to do to make you more comfortable?” Normal, she noted of his urine dip after the sixty seconds had passed. No abnormal blood, nitrates, glucose, bilirubin, urobilinogen, protein, or leukocytes. Even the pH was normal. All good.

No answer.

Taking a seat, Mia went back to calmly writing. “How did you think I was going to examine you with your clothes on?”

“Just-just take my vital signs.”

Hearing the rustle of fabric behind her, she was tempted to look back. But didn’t until she’d finished writing out her findings in shorthand, and dated the page. She considered writing notes about Brian’s emotional state, as well. Words like “childish” and “immature” sprang to mind. Those really weren’t fair, though, all things considered. His emotions were bound to be running high for good reason and she knew it.

When she finally turned back in the chair, she found Brian had doffed his hoodie and backed to sit on the bedside, sphygmomanometer beside him. Disappointed, she eyed him, wondering if it would be taking advantage of him to press him into allowing her to perform the PE he actually needed. “Why are you afraid of letting me examine you?” She wheeled the task chair close enough to the foot locker to pick up her stethoscope first and place it around her neck.

“I'm not afraid. I don’t need it. Like I said, I'm fine.”

“You are afraid. You don’t think I'm going to hurt you, do you? I'm not a stranger. Remember? Remember back when I worked in my parents’ market and you came in and met me for the first time? I know now that you already knew a lot about me at the time. I couldn’t possibly have seemed threatening to you then. How can I be now?”

He dropped his head. “No, of course you’re not.”

“You, however, turned out not to be who I thought you were. If anything, I should feel threatened by you. But me, I'm still the same person you met back then. Naïve. Gullible. Terribly impressed by you and trying not to show it.” Stethoscope in place, she reached for the blood pressure cuff. The sleeves were a hindrance, but they were cotton knit. She might be able to hear through the fabric, but wasn’t that proficient at the tricky art of hearing the subtle opening and closing thumps through the arteries yet.

“I wouldn’t call you gullible.”

“What would you call me? A sucker? I was, wasn’t I?”

“No. Not at all.” He seemed calmer. 

“Maybe you should take your shirt off.”

“My shirt off?” he echoed.

“It’d be easier,” she said gently, “if you’d just go change into your robe.” Honestly, she’d not yet seen him in a robe since they’d moved there. She didn’t even know if he owned one.

“Yeah, but…”

“You want your baby to be all right, don’t you?”

“He is all right.”

“Unless I monitor and examine you, there’s no way to ensure that. Be realistic. When your doctor saw you in Barstow, did he just take your vital signs?”

“Well, no…But he’s the only gyne doctor I've ever had. He’s my mom’s doctor, too, so I've known him since I was a kid. That was all different.”

She sighed. “All right, never mind. Forget about all this.” Removing the earpieces of the stethoscope from her ears, she traded it to drape around her neck as she backed the chair away. “I’ll tell you what. I know it would be risky for you to establish yourself at a clinic around here, so you’ll just have to take your chances.” Getting up, she returned to her closet and took down the bag of supplies she’d purchased. “I got you some prenatal vitamins to take every day and--”

“I've already got prenatal vitamins. My doctor in Barstow gave them to me. I’ve been taking them every day.”

“Okay, well then that’s about the most you can do.” She set the bag down on the desk, then went to retrieve the chair. “When the time comes and you’re ready to give birth, if you can't make it back to the US, Dom and Jesse can find you comadrona. They’ll be a lot less formal than a hospital, and therefore a lot less risk--”

“What’s that?”

Back at the desk, she sat down and ripped the paper she’d started for his chart out of the notebook. She crumpled it up. “A-a comadrona…” She struggled to think of the American translation. “A midwife.” As suspected, there was no way this was going to work. O'Conner was just too scared, too psychologically damaged and she hadn’t anywhere near enough let alone the kind of training necessary to deal with that. He needed a psychologist. It certainly wasn’t his fault. Much as she’d wanted to help him, it was evident she’d served absolutely no purpose in making the trip to Baja. Unfortunately, she’d wasted valuable time and money registering for classes that she hadn’t been able to start. She could just picture the instructors reading her name off the registration list, then looking blankly around the room when no one answered. However, it was only October and she may be able to catch up if she left Baja as soon as possible. Was it still feasible for her to do this? “And another thing. I strongly, strongly suggest you get whatever treatment you can at a mental health clinic. You need to talk to someone about your abduction and everything. I’m sure as a police officer you understand the importance--”

Just as she shut the notebook and snapped off the light, Brian interjected, “No! No.” He was suddenly beside her, fumbling to turn the lamp on again, and opening her notebook for her. “I want you to see me. No comadronas. No mental health clinics! I want you to be my doctor as long as I can't go back to Barstow. Nobody else. Here.” He pulled off his long-sleeved t-shirt, revealing another pretty lace bra and the rise of an elastic waistband over his visibly pregnant belly. It was considerably more noticeable than the last time she’d seen it. “Go ahead.” He backed to the bed and lay his left arm out for her access. “You come and check my vital signs and do whatever else you have to do. I’ll take my clothes off. I’ll do whatever you need.”

Stunned, she swallowed. “Are you sure you want me to?” She didn’t want to be responsible for him freaking out, either.

“Yeah. I don’t want you thinkin’ we don’t need you and goin’ back to LA. Anything bad happens to the baby and it’ll be my own fault and I’ll regret it the rest of my life. I need you with us. I don’t want you thinkin’ you’re not important or I don’t care about you, either, 'cos I do. So, just come on and do it.”

In spite of everything, the angst on his face was fetching. Tentatively, she brought the chair back to the bedside and sat down. Clearing her throat, she tried to gather herself as she wrapped the cuff around his upper arm. “I was only trying to be helpful,” she managed truthfully. “It’s a perfectly viable option, seeing a comadrona. It seemed it was upsetting you too much to have me be your doctor. That’s not what I want. You’ve been through too much. If it would be less stressful to you for me to back off, then that’s what I should do.” When the cuff went on crooked, she got up to rewrap it.

Instead of offering reassurance that she couldn’t possibly upset him, he said nothing. That would have made her feel better. It really wasn’t about making her feel better. His well-being mattered more than anything.

At last he spoke up. “Maybe it is a viable option, but I don’t want to see just any doctor or midwife. You I’d trust.”

“Okay, let’s start out easy.” Once she got the cuff in place, she replaced the stethoscope, then set the bell against his antecubital fossa before pumping it up. “How’d you get that scar on your elbow, anyway? I’ve been wondering that since I met you.”

Not until she’d finished taking his blood pressure did he answer. “Car wreck.”

“Looks pretty bad. But you don’t seem to have any mechanical deficits.” She wheeled back to the desk to write down her findings on a fresh page, including the information from the crumpled up page she’d torn from the notebook. “What was the injury to your arm?”

“How’s my blood pressure? And my pee? Is it all normal?”

“Your blood pressure is 124/74 and your urine is completely normal. Generally pregnancy causes low blood pressure. Yours is normal, instead of being low, but I’m going to infer that’s because you’re nervous. Hopefully everything will be fine, but I won't know without examining you.” She continued writing assuming he’d deliberately hedged her question, although she had no idea why. Since she had to start all over again, it took her a few moments to write out everything again, including all the dipstick tests. Too bad she had no preprinted forms she could just fill in. To expedite, she resorted to shorthand like any doctor would under the circumstances.

“Broke it,” Brian finally supplied. “Shattered my elbow real bad. They had to do surgery to pin the pieces back together.”

She couldn’t quite bite back a sympathetic hiss. “It looks like it dehisced.”

“I busted the cast off early and started using it too soon.”

“Didn’t that hurt?”

“Yeah, but I had pills, so I’d just pop them when it hurt too much.”

“That was pretty reckless on your part,” she shuddered, imagining the pain. “How did you break the cast?”

“I was trying to climb out my second-story bedroom window and fell.”

“Bri-an.” Throwing her hair back, she glanced to him. “Why would you even try to climb out a window with a cast on your arm? Why would you do it at all?”

“I’ve always liked taking chances.”

“You climbed out a second-story window for the hell of it?” This sounded surprisingly credible. Especially after the story she’d heard about how he’d saved Vince from the step of an eighteen-wheeler at full speed on the freeway. 

“No, not for the hell of it. I wanted to get out of the house and it was the easiest way. It’s kind a hard to get a good hold of a window frame with only one hand.”

She considered. “Then it clearly wasn’t the easiest way. You must have volumes of medical files.”

“No, not really.” He brushed his eyebrow with a forefinger. “I may have been in the ER a few times, but not that much. So, are you like gonna lecture me now?”

Suddenly seeing she was putting him on the defense, she got up and came to the bed to sit with him, instead of on the chair, holding the notebook and pen. “Of course not.” Eyeing him, she longed to tell him how she really felt about him. Then she opened the notebook again to write. “All right. How have you been feeling? Any morning sickness?”

“Not since we came to Baja. Except when I got sick from the water here, but that wasn’t the same as morning sickness.”

“Then you did get morning sickness with your pregnancy.”

“Not that much. I ate crackers and tried not to wait too long between meals. That helped. In fact, I think I stopped getting morning sickness since before we came down here. When we were staying in Los Angeles I never once got sick.”

“When did you start? How many weeks were you?” She resumed taking notes.

“I think I was three months. Thirteen weeks. So I only had it for a month, maybe.”

“So it was only for a short duration. Do smells bother you?”

“Only when I was getting morning sickness. Not any more, I don’t think.”

“Have you had any swelling of the feet or hands?” She’d never noticed any. And she admired his handsome hands and feet as often as she could.

“No.”

“Any abnormal vaginal discharge?”

That abruptly halted his cooperation.

“I'm sorry I have to ask you, but it’s a routine OB question.” Since he still didn’t answer, and appeared unwilling to, she got up carefully. “Let me give you another chance to go change. Go to your room and take everything off, then put on a robe and come back here. Okay?”

Nothing.

“You…you said you’d cooperate,” she gently pointed out. “Or are we done with the exam?”

“Why do we have to do it now? Why can’t we wait until after dinner? When Dom’s here?”

“You want to have a physical exam in front of Dom? Wouldn’t that be more embarrassing?”

He collected his shirt and stood up. “Never mind. I’ll go change.”

In Brian’s absence, Mia went back to setting out the rest of the equipment. All the while, her heart beat more rapidly from excitement. She had no idea if she’d actually get to examine her patient, but she had to look professional so she’d be taken seriously. With the way Brian was acting, she doubted it. Even despite what he said. He was acting flighty and scared and she guessed that shouldn’t be surprising. Somehow, he’d accepted having sex with her brother again, judging by the long hours they spent alone together in their hotel rooms and some of the noises she’d heard, hard as she’d tried not to. But apparently Brian wasn’t ready for anything else. Not even a clinical doctor exam. That would deeply disappoint her, and most of all, give her no choice but to go back home to LA and leave him behind. If it wasn’t for being Brian’s comadrona she would have stayed home.

He returned in several minutes. This time he was wrapped in a blue-gray silk kimono. She recognized it immediately as a new one she’d seen Dom in. The belt was tied above the rise of his belly and he was well-covered.

Though he was wordless, the bright blue of his eyes displayed his anxiety. On sight of the instruments she’d laid out on the footlocker, his pupils shot open in alarm. Rather than take a seat at the end of the bed as she offered, he froze. “You’re gonna do a pelvic?”

“If-if I deem it necessary,” she supplied, trying to sound palliating. “It depends, of course.”

“Depends on what?” His voice was still aghast.

“On your answers to a few more questions. If you prefer not to answer, then yes, I’ll have to do a pelvic.”

“What questions?” He wasn’t getting any calmer. He remained glued to the same tiles on the floor, now wearing flip-flops.

“Why don’t you sit down so we can get the questions out of the way?” she tried and pulled the trunk further from the bed to make room for him to sit where she needed.

“I'm afraid of what’ll happen if I sit down.”

“What do you mean?” She opened the notebook again and wrote down other important points she realized she should be addressing regarding his past medical history.

“Like what if my answers don’t stop you from doing a pelvic?”

“I promise if I have to, I’ll be real gentle. And I’ve got a herm speculum, so it shouldn’t hurt that much.”

“How can you say that?” He sounded stricken. “You know how much pelvics hurt. They hurt, no matter what you use.”

“A-actually I've never had one,” she admitted. If there was any one person in the world she’d want to know, it was Brian.

“You…You haven’t?” He came closer. She couldn’t bring herself at look at his expression, but she hoped he wasn’t regarding her like a circus freak.

“Oh,” he said simply and sat down. 

When she caught a glimpse of him, he appeared to be in mild wonder. God. Had she just changed his entire attitude towards her? In realizing she was a virgin? If she had, she’d gladly welcome his sudden new interest. Or perhaps, she realized with chagrin, it was just empathy.

“About the discharge,” she furthered. “I really have to know to help make an assessment as to whether or not I’ll need to do a pelvic.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, um…”

“Could you please sit down? I’m going to wind up with an acute trapezial and cervical muscular spasm if I have to keep looking up at you. By the way: How tall are you?”

“Around six feet two-and-a-half inches.”

“Really.” Her turn to be impressed. Her eyes flit over him. “How much do you weigh?”

“I don’t know. I can't begin to guess with this baby on board.”

“Well.” She made a note. “We’ll have to get a scale. It’s very important we keep track of your weight to make sure you’re gaining enough. It’s important. I always thought you were thin, but I thought you looked skinnier since you showed up at the garage to buy it. That’s a bad thing when you’re expecting.”

Carefully, Brian finally took the proffered seat on the foot of the bed. “It is? What could happen?”

At last she could look at him more easily eye-to-eye, though the footlocker was definitely lower than the bed. “Low birthweight. Small-for-gestational age fetus. Malnutrition that could lead to developmental delay.”

“What!”

“Well, to be honest, you seem to have a good appetite. You eat you eat well. You have balanced meals with plenty of nutrition. You drink milk or have other milk-based products. The only way to know for sure that you’re losing weight is to--”

“I don’t much like the milk here.”

He’d mentioned this before. “I know,” she agreed. It wasn’t as rich. But they’d checked into it, and that was apparently the norm in Mexico. It was well-pasteurized and that was the best they could hope for. “I don’t like it as much, either. Maybe we should buy ice cream. Chocolate or strawberry. To give it more flavor. Because really, you need to be gaining weight, not hovering around the same. That means you’re barely taking on enough to feed the baby and not getting enough for yourself. Things are going to be changing quite a bit for you. You’ll have to start manufacturing your own milk, you know, so you’ll need surplus nutrition. So we really need to keep track of your weight on a regular basis, you know? If you let me examine you I can get a better idea of how the baby is coming along. I can do an actual fundal height measurement, in fact. There’s a chart in my obstetrics book that’ll show us exactly how far along you are to compare to the size the baby should be.”

“All right.” He seemed to calm a little more. “How do you do that?”

“Well, first, when was your last menstrual period?” Setting the notebook down, she got up and went straight to the small bookcase in her room where she’d stored all her expensive medical books.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” she echoed while she looked. That didn’t sound plausible. “Of course you know.”

“I don’t. All I know is it was in May. And I only know that 'cos I knew when I last saw Dom. Otherwise I wasn’t paying attention. I don't know what day in May. How is it that everyone else always seems to know? Do they have nothing else to do but keep calendars on their periods? I was so busy back then…Everything was non-stop. I never had time to sit down and make charts of my menstrual cycles. I lost track. I was balancing a million things at once. To be honest, I haven’t really slowed down since then.”

That suggested a very stressful first into second trimester. Evidently his doctor had asked him the question already and he’d had no answer or he wouldn’t be so acting so testy on the subject.

Finding the book she was seeking, Mia returned to her place on the footlocker and began thumbing through the pages. “It’s now October, so you’re in your fifth month. Let me see how well I can pinpoint exactly how far along you are.” She finally went to the index to find the chart. She’d need to get a tape measure, too. Where the hell was her tape measure? Not in her doc bag, she knew.

Once she’d found the chart and lay it open on the bed, she got up to scrounge around her room for her sewing kit. Where the hell had it wound up? All this moving around had really disoriented her. She had no idea where any of her belongings were anymore.

“In the meantime,” she went on with the medical history, “have you had any abdominal pain or cramping?”

He hesitated. Then admitted, “Yes.”

“You have?” She stopped her search to regard him. “When? When was the last time?

Turning his head, he looked away from her, hugging the kimono tighter around himself.

“Brian.”

“I'm fine now,” he said insistently.

“What happened? Was it only once?”

“It’s happened a few times. Does it matter?”

“Of course it does! You say you’re high-risk. And you had cramping and pain? Did you have any spotting or bleeding with it?”

“Well, yeah, but there wasn’t any cramping and I know why it happened. It freaked me out a little, but I couldn’t help that.”

“Why?” On locating the tape measure in her sewing kit, she returned to the bed. “What happened?”

“Nothing. It was nothing. If it had been bad I would have told you.”

“Look, Brian.” She sat down again on the locker and proceeded carefully. “Since I'm your acting physician, I’d like it if you felt you could trust me. I want you to know that no matter how mad I may be at Dom, you’re special to me. Since we met back in April, I’ve felt that way about you. I really care about you.” She reached to take one of his hands from where he had it tucked. “Please, Brian.” Once again she wanted to stroke his curls and touch his pretty cheekbone. “I want you to feel that you can tell me anything. You should have told me.” 

“Like I said,” he said, tentatively relenting his hand, “it stopped, and I’m fine. So it was no big deal. I'm good now.”

Rising, she moved to sit beside him on the bed, still holding his hand. “It-it’s not really normal to have bleeding and cramps during pregnancy,” she said gently, so not to alarm him. “It’s indicative that there could potentially be a problem. Certainly it should be monitored by your doctor.”

Seemingly embarrassed, he ducked his head, keeping his long lashes lowered. “There is no problem. It only happened when Dom and I got too carried away making love, all right? Man, we were going crazy for each other. I told you we didn’t—you know—from the time we hooked up again 'til after the wedding. I was too fucked up after those creeps did a number on me, you know? I couldn't do it. I wanned him, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready. He was just so patient. We weren't gonna wait no more after the wedding. It was probably too soon, but I didn’t care, I wanted him and we couldn’t control ourselves. I don’t blame Dom when we get too carried away, because I want it, too, believe me. And it’s not like I don’t get too carried away with him, either. So, are you satisfied? Is that what you wanted to hear about? I didn’t think so.”

It sure as hell wasn’t. Her mouth worked slightly as she tried to think of some way to answer, but failed. Releasing his hand, she cleared her throat, eyes on the print of her dress covering her knees. Like it or not, though, it was important information. She couldn’t help her immediate sense of resentment. However, she had pushed him to answer. Did she really want to ask more questions? Did she really want to think about what he and Dom did behind closed doors?

Simply by being near him, she was driven to distraction. Grabbing up the notebook and pen, she added more notes. “Um, why did your doctor tell you you’re high-risk? I don’t see any reason why he would have said that. Everything I’ve checked so far is normal. Do you have some underlying medical problem I don’t know about?”

“What?” He seemed taken aback. “No.”

“You must have something wrong. A hereditary predisposition? A neurological disease? There are a lot of different problems that could make you high-risk, but I can't help with your pregnancy until you tell me what it is. Your glucose level is normal,” she reflected thoughtfully. “Are you taking something for diabetes?”

“No. No way. I'm not taking anything but the prenatal vitamins.” 

She thought further. “Do they have an iron supplement in them?”

“N-no. I’ve got anti-nausea pills and the doctor gave me something to help me relax, you know? I was pretty freaked out after the abduction. He said I needed to get some sleep. I hardly took any of it, though. I still got it if you wanna see what it was. He told me it was all safe for the baby.”

“And that’s all you were taking?”

“That’s it.”

“There’s no other medical or perhaps family history that you know of? Because honestly, Brian, I'm going to have to know what it is to take over your medical care.”

“I don’t have any medical problems. Except the pins and screws in my elbow.”

“Then why would your doctor tell you that? He wouldn’t say it for no reason. That doesn’t make any sense.”

He hesitated. So long it made her raise her head. “There is a reason.” His own gaze was still lowered. “You just can't tell Dom.”

“But he already knows you’re high-risk. That’s why he’s so insistent you take it easy.”

“I mean he doesn’t know why. I haven’t told him. I…I had a miscarriage.”

She froze. “A miscarriage? What? When was this? He doesn’t know?”

“A few years ago. I don’t want him to know.”

“What? Wait.” She shook her head, trying to get her bearings. Mind computing rapidly, she wondered what he could mean by “a few years ago” He was only a year older than her. “A few years ago” she was struggling through high school and premed courses at college. When in hell could it possibly have happened? Her brother would have killed her if she so much as started seriously dating, let alone gotten pregnant in that same time frame. She was still in college and had no business jeopardizing her schooling. Schooling he’d been assiduously paying plenty of tuition for. And Mama, she would have stroked out after what happened to Papa. She couldn’t have handled another crisis. Wasn’t Brian in college and then the police academy? When could he have had time to get knocked up and miscarry? “What do you mean Dom doesn’t know? How could you not tell him?”

“Haven’t told him.” Brian cast her an irritated frown. “How could I? Could you tell your partner something like that? Then your fiancé and then husband?”

About to answer in the affirmative, she paused. It wouldn’t be a partner’s business. Then by the time he became a fiancé let alone a husband, no. How could she bring up a thing like that? Uh, by the way…If there was a child, she wouldn’t have to bring it up. The issue would be understood. “I-I don't know,” she admitted, releasing her breath, grateful she had no such problem. “But I guess I’d just have to. This other person you were involved with…What happened? How did you come to miscarry?”

“I never felt with anyone else the way I feel about Dom.” Brian kept his head down. “I love him. Like I never knew I could love anybody. You met the dude. It was Roman Pearce. I grew up with him. I love him, too, but not the way I love Dom. It’s all different. He was a friend who wanted too much. We were both young and dumb. We tried not to let it happen—it just did. After that, he wanted a baby on purpose to make up for the one we’d lost and so we’d have to get married. I kept putting him off. I couldn’t marry him. I knew it would be a mistake. I loved him like crazy, but--”

“You had an abortion?” Much as she tried to avoid it, Mia had overheard Brian and her brother discussing eventually renewing their wedding vows through a genuine Catholic wedding in the future. When they settled somewhere they’d be safe. Dom was excited about the prospect. “How-how could you even--?”

“No, never!” Brian finally met her gaze, horrified. “I’d never do that!” His eyes filled immediately, startling her. “Man, you don’t know what happened! I just found out I was pregnant when I was in the hospital from having that roll-over in the desert. That was when I busted my arm.” He wiped escaping tears away. “My-my doctor tried so hard to save the baby. He wouldn’t even let them do surgery on my arm ’cos it was too risky.” He finally put his hands over his face.” Man, I can't even talk about it…”

“Oh, God…” Mia swallowed. “I-I'm sorry…And so sorry I accused you…” This wasn’t the way Mia had hoped the exam would go. She slipped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. “I’m so sorry, Brian. Hey, it’s okay. Everything’s gonna be okay. I won't tell Dom and we’ll make sure nothing happens to this baby, o-okay? I promise.”

~~~

October 21 – Saturday

To keep up with the highest influx of customers, Dom and Jesse had been hired to work Saturdays. They started work an hour later, so got up later. This Saturday Mia had woken up earlier herself just to be waiting at the bathroom door to hand a specimen cup to her patient first thing in the morning.

Dressed in his cobalt blue peignoir, he appeared surprised to find Mia in the hall dressed in a long-sleeved, waffle knit dress and ready to play doctor, thrusting a specimen container out at him. 

Raising his eyebrows, he blinked at her, hair a lovely mess of curls. “What?” he asked. “You did this yesterday.”

“I know,” she replied. “But we didn’t finish.”

“But you did the pee thing yesterday. We don’t need to--”

Behind Brian, Dom appeared, looking sleepy and annoyed. He was wearing the blue Yukata kimono Brian had been wearing the day before. “What is it?”

Mia spoke before Brian could screw things up. “I’m trying to start regular routine OB care for Brian. First-thing-in-the-morning urine dips are a necessity.”

“Not every morning,” Brian argued, already threatening to mess with her plans.

“We didn’t finish our exam yesterday,” she pointed out, struggling to find patience.

“We did enough yesterday,” Brian furthered. “You checked me out good. That’s enough for another month.”

“I-I never even measured you,” she said, mildly astonished he’d make such an allegation. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done.”

Dom intervened. “Haven’t you been doing this all along?”

“Uh, no,” Mia allowed. “No we haven’t.”

“Why not?” Dom questioned. “I don’t get it.”

Abruptly, Brian took the specimen cup from Mia and headed for the bathroom. “I'm not standing in the hallway and hold it for the next hour, talking. Come on, Dom, let’s go shower.”

~~~

Leaving Brian to finish collecting his sample, Dom went to start the shower. Adjusting the water temperature, Dom eyed Brian from behind. “Why hasn’t she been taking care of you? What’s going on with that? Do I need to talk to her about it? I thought she understood how important it is you get regular checkups.”

“Not her fault,” Brian mumbled.

“Then whose fault is it?” Dom wanted to know. The water in the pipes was already warmed up. It appeared Mia had already showered, judging by the dampness of her hair.

Brian mumbled something else.

“What?” Dom glanced back. His wife had a habit of mumbling sometimes, especially in the mornings when he was sleepy and whenever it was convenient for him.

“My fault, I guess,” Brian stated more clearly. Leaving the cup on the toilet tank, he came to join Dom at the shower, untying the belt of his peignoir.

The concept of disliking medical exams wasn’t strange to Dom; he didn’t care for them, either. He well understood Brian’s reluctance. “Honey. This is our baby.” Despite his wet hand, Dom reached to Brian and tugged him close to put a hand over his now prominent little belly. “We can't take chances on his or her health. You couldn’t see your doctor, I know. But you have to see someone. Could you trust anyone else more than my own sister?”

“I trust her.” Taking Dom’s belt, Brian undid it next. “I just don’t like examinations, you know? Who does?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But I think the life of our baby is more important than that. You know you need extra care. If it was me and I was the one carrying our baby, even if I wasn’t high-risk I’d be having myself checked every week just to be sure. I can't believe you haven’t had one single exam since we were in Barstow.”

Lowering his head, Brian nodded in guilt. “You’re right. I need to. I just thought that since I haven’t had any problems everything must be okay. I figured I’d have her check me out if I felt anything was wrong.”

“It could be too late by then,” Dom cautioned. He drew the peignoir from Brian, enjoying the sight when his nipples stood up beneath the negligee. “With you being high-risk, we shouldn’t take those kind of chances.”

The look of alarm in Brian’s vivid blue eyes was dramatic. He studied Dom’s face. “I’ll have her check me out today and every day 'til the baby comes if she says so.”

~~~

While waiting for the sample, Mia set up her microscope in the laundry room, a suitable place to turn into a makeshift lab. There was a sink and counter space, as well as a window for additional light. Jesse showed up in his flannel robe over pajama pants and a t-shirt. She figured he was on his way to use the garage bathroom. But when he opted instead to help her primarily for the opportunity of toying with the microscope and its components, she was annoyed.

“Aren't you going to go use the bathroom outside?” she questioned so she could start breakfast without worrying about leaving him unattended with the expensive equipment.

“Huh?” Jesse plugged into the utility power strip on the counter so he could turn on the light switch on the stage. “Oh. Nah. Dom and Brian don’t mind my coming in to use the bathroom when they’re in there.”

Mia jumped. “What! Are you fucking kidding me!”

“No, man.” Jesse looked pleased with himself. “I really dig those frosted shower curtains we put up in there. Except we should a got clear ones.”

That made her swat him. “Tell me you are not going in there to ogle Brian! I swear, Jesse!”

Hopping aside, Jesse laughed. “I’d be stupid not to. Dom told me himself to come on in. He leaves the door unlocked. Brian’s so fucking hot, it’s unreal! I mean, man! I can't see as good as I’d like, but I can see some things. That’s why I’m picking up a set of clear curtains next time. Hell, I've been trying to come up with an excuse to pull back the curtain and reach in. Oh, for the chance to cop a feel!”

She promptly punched his arm. “You watch out I don’t tell Dom what a perv you are! If he knew what you were doing,” she added in disgust, “he’d probably break your jaw.”

“Don’t spoil it, man. You should go in there, yourself. Tell ‘em you came in for a can of cleanser or a bar of soap. They’re cool.”

“Don’t even suggest it!” Damn, she wished she had the guts to do something like that. What was she thinking? She didn’t have to be that desperate to see Brian, even though she was; if she could get the chance to examine him, she could see a lot more than through a shower curtain. “I'm warning you, Jesse, you’d better knock that off. I'm ashamed to even know you.” Quickly, she clicked the illuminator off in the base and hooded the scope. “Why don’t you come help me with breakfast instead of messing with my microscope and trying to figure out ways to perv out on Brian in the shower? We can fry some bacon.” The prospect of bacon should distract him.

Apparently not enough. “Don’t pretend you’re not dying to get a look at him,” Jesse prodded on the way into the kitchen. “You know you’ve been hot for him since you first laid eyes on him.”

“Jesse!” she snapped, taking down her apron from the hook by the utility room door. “I’d never do a thing like that.” She was reminded that Vince had a very strong similar tendency and it had always unnerved her. Particularly because she was one of his subjects. Numerous times she’d found him hovering outside her bedroom or the bathroom door when she’d been changing or bathing. “Now come and help me 'til you can go shower.”

~~~

She’d begun making breakfast when Brian came into the kitchen. Jesse had already bound out to get ready for his own shower, since he had to prepare for work that morning. Brian’s curls were wet and he was wearing layered shirts over sweat pants that morning. Great. Another highly unflattering outfit. “Where you want me to leave it?” He indicated the specimen cup he held.

“In the laundry room,” she pointed from the kitchen counter. In a moment, she set her spatula down and followed him.

Having found the microscope, he couldn’t resist peeking under the hood, himself.

“Listen, Bry,” she said. “You know I didn’t finish the exam yesterday. It would probably be a good idea--”

“Yeah, I know.” He lifted the lid of the case for the lenses. “We’ll do that today.”

Surprised at his sudden change of attitude, she was at a momentary loss. “Um, well good. I’ve already made my bed and set out a sheet you can use for a drape. After Dom and Jesse go to work--”

“Why don’t we wait 'til this evening when Dom and Jesse get back? After dinner?”

That was the last thing she wanted. “Why wait all the way 'til then?”

“’Cos I’d like Dom to be here at the time.”

The thought was so wholly disappointing to her, she couldn’t bring herself to agree. Have Dom there at the same time? To spoil everything, as usual? She was too weary of that scenario. “I-I really think we should do it this morning. We’ve put it off long enough, don’t you think? Especially in light of your past history.”

He exhaled. “You’d know better than me.”

~~~

After breakfast, Mia performed a more detailed analysis on Brian’s morning urine sample. Just as the day before, she discovered his sample was completely clean and normal. Then after the kitchen was cleaned up, Brian cooperatively came to her room once again wrapped in Dom’s kimono. She wondered why Brian wouldn’t wear his peignoir. Then it occurred to her that he found Dom’s robe the most reassuring. In light of his recent ordeal, that sadly made sense, but made her mildly uncomfortable. She was supposed to be able to afford him some security as his physician.

To take his vital signs again, she sat down next to him on the bed, her notebook and pen beside her. After getting his temperature, respiratory rate, and pulse rate, she slipped the stethoscope into her ears. Stethoscope bell in hand, she reached between the edges of the kimono and listened to his heart and lungs. All resoundingly healthy and strong. Deliberately, she loosed the kimono enough to reach in and palpate his breasts to feel that his gestational changes were all coming along as they should be.

He jumped hard.

“What’s wrong?” Alarmed by his exaggerated reaction, she withdrew her hand.

“N-nothing.”

Yes, she was making a pass at him, but at the same time, she had a legitimate reason for her seemingly forward “groping.” She needed to explain. “I really need to do a full OB exam on you. And that includes your breasts.”

His rigid posture and lack of communication weren’t very encouraging. Patiently, she loosened his belt even more to uncover the breast she’d reached for. If anything, his swollen areola, nipple, and ducts were enticing. He was definitely gaining a pleasant feminine quality of round fullness. Enjoying every second of it, she felt him up sensuously, extensively, toying with his nipple. It came to full erection with her touch. This time he had no defensive reaction or complaint. Even when she uncovered his other breast to do the same. What he did was even more interesting; he cupped a hand over his lap.

Absolutely throbbing, Mia turned more fully to him, looked to his mouth and kissed him. He didn’t hold back; he kissed her in response, letting the kimono slip down his shoulders as she prompted.

Oh, God. Enthralled, she kissed harder, with renewed fervor. Again, he not only allowed her, he kissed her back and drew her closer. As they continued to kiss, she felt reality melting away. Was it a hallucination? She was so desperate for it, she couldn’t resist allowing the hallucination to play itself into its own form of existentialism. Lifting her skirt out of the way, she put a leg over his. This forced him to remove his hand to invite her onto his lap. As she nudged closer, she felt him nudge her in turn, but not with his hand.

A look down revealed his erection was standing up between them, threatening to unveil itself from beneath the kimono. He, however, promptly struggled to maintain some propriety by tucking a hand over himself.

“Oh, no,” she rebuffed. Quickly, she backed enough to tug open the robe and reveal him.

And he was marvelous.

Beautiful, slender body with well-toned muscles, a prominent, now evidently pregnant belly, and what a cock! Her brother hadn’t been messing with her head, after all. Now she could see it wasn’t by some trick of the light that he appeared to fill out those soft knit stretch pants so well. Could she be this lucky? It was as picture-perfect as the rest of him. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

As she was about to grab, he tugged her down on top of him, covering himself, inviting her to resume their kissing with all the more passion. Straddling him, she kept kissing, ravenous, delirious. Oh, it had to be a hallucination, but it was a wonderful one. There was no way he would ever kiss her like this in real life. No way he’d ever let her do what she was about to do next.

Gasping, she scrambled to wrestle her dress off. In her dream of course, he would help her. She’d come to play doctor with no underwear beneath her loose, oatmeal-colored waffle-weave dress, for it was her intention to seduce him. Even though she hardly knew how to do such things, she meant to do her damnedest to try. So when he took the dress off her, he’d see her naked for the first time and wouldn’t be able to help himself and would take her into his arms…

That wasn’t exactly what happened, however. Just as she reached to pull her dress over her head, he quickly caught her arms and pulled her dress down.

“Wait a minute.” He sat her on the bed beside him, then in practically the same move, hastened the kimono to cover everything, even if he had to force it. “We can't do this. You’re supposed to give me a medical checkup and nothing else.”

“Why not? We’ll get to it. We can do whatever we want. This is the first time I’ve ever felt like I can act like an adult without someone breathing down my neck.” That wasn’t entirely true, but she felt empowered to be with Brian. As if she knew that he’d have her back.

“This is why I didn’t want to do these checkups. I knew this would happen.”

That had to mean he really was attracted to her, she interpreted. Or…it could mean, she realized, he wasn’t remotely attracted, but was repulsed at the thought of her in this context. This wasn’t at all like her dream would have proceeded. “Oh…” she said, struggling with waves of confusion. “You…you just want me to treat you like a patient?”

“I am your patient. A patient who happens to be in love with your brother, remember?”

“Wait a minute,” she pointed out no less befuddled. “You’re not acting like that’s all you want; you were just kissing me. Eagerly, in fact. Don’t pretend you weren't turned on. That would be impossible to hide on you.”

Clearly embarrassed, he blushed, a hand held hard over his lap. “Shhh--t! You were the one playing with my tits like crazy! How could I not get turned on?”

Her turn to embarrass. Yeah, she sure hadn’t hidden the fact that she liked them. “Well—well, you let me!”

“It felt too good to stop you.”

“Oh,” she sought to capture the implication and turn the embarrassment back on him, “so if anybody came in here and played with your tits, you’d let ‘em?”

“No way! I’d break their hand off. You’re one of the few I’d let.”

Instantly, she melted. With that, she slipped her arms around his neck to resume kissing. 

He shot back just enough to be out of reach. “I didn’t say we should.”

“What?” Now she was doubly confused. She finally had to ask him outright. “What are you saying?”

“That you should just do the exam like you’re supposed to.”

“But…but you kissed me. And you got all hot and bothered.”

“I know.” He flashed a dazzling, dizzying smile that only compounded her confusion. “I don’t think I'm gonna be able to help that. We still gotta do the best we can not to do the wrong thing, though. I don’t wanna cheat on my husband.”

And they said women were impossible to figure out. Whatever the hell that meant, this herm was proving to be complicated. Importantly, Brian didn’t say he wasn’t about to cheat, just that he didn’t want to. Still, it was highly disheartening to Mia.

Shifting, she could feel that her dress was damp from her own arousal. She sure as hell couldn’t help getting all hot and bothered, either. Did he think she could just throw a switch and shut off her desire? Especially after he’d just told her he wanted her, too? Not by a longshot. 

For a moment, she wondered if this was a situation that required a slap. But how? Why? He was just being faithful. It wasn’t his fault she was so smitten by him. Or that he was so incredibly sexy and beautiful she couldn’t help but be attracted. So why would he require a slap? He’d done absolutely nothing wrong other than lie to the Torettos and the team about how he came into their lives, but this was all in the line of duty, and now she knew it wasn’t slap-worthy. If anything, it showed honor and integrity, in fact. If anyone required a reprimand, it was her. For being stupid enough to fall in love with him.

That’s right. That was what she’d done: Fallen in love.

Now what was she supposed to do?

God, she wished she’d never left California. 

Angrily, she got off the bed and reached for the sheet. “Here!” She threw it at him. “Get on the end of the bed and cover yourself up so I get your damn examination over and done with like I'm ‘supposed to’.” In the meantime, she dug into her bag for the speculum. Fuck it. She’d ram it up him whether he needed it or not and get a kick out of doing it, too. It was the most sex she could ever have with him. It should hurt him the way she was being hurt. And she’d be damned if she’d ever do another one on him, either, unless he really needed it. He could deliver all by himself, too, for all she cared.

As she set it down on the trunk next to the other instruments on the towel, then tore into a pack of surgical gloves, he saw what she was doing.

“You’re not gonna use that, are you?”

Initially, she’d not meant to use gloves with him. Why would she when she longed to touch him so bad? “I think so,” she said, trying to bite back some of the acerbity in her tone. “I won't know enough without getting a good look inside.”

“I don’t need you to look inside. I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Oh, come on. You can take a little pain.” If I can take all the pain you’re giving me, she thought, surely you’re man enough to take what little this will cause you in comparison.

“It’s just that…” Lying back with the sheet and the kimono covering most of him, he looked vulnerable and agitated. “When I was in the hospital, my doctor told me that pelvic exams could induce labor.”

She paused from placing her headlamp on. “That’s only with repeated pelvic exams. He did one when you last saw him, didn’t he?” Before proceeding, she tested the light on the palm of her bare hand.

“Yeah. So that was enough. I don’t want another one.”

Huffing, she sat on the footlocker then snatched a couple of gloves from the package. “Put your feet up here on the trunk on either side of me.” While he tentatively obeyed, she snapped the gloves on. No, she shouldn’t want to touch his bare skin. They were to play strangers from here on out. Even though she was desperately, stupidly in love with him and would have done anything for him. Including the OB exam. Anyone with any kind of backbone should have told him to get bent. She couldn’t bring herself to. Next time she would, though. Next time she’d tell him to fuck off instead.

Headlamp on, she leaned in with the tape measure she’d set out along with the instruments. Then tossed the sheet up on his knees. 

Madre de Dios! She caught her breath, an icy hot, intoxicating rush shooting through her. He was better than in her dreams. But imagination was never this good. That excited wave of heat continued to spread through her, enhancing the throbbing between her legs she was already experiencing. She swallowed, stunned. As his doctor, she knew she had full license to feel him up to her heart’s content. But no, she had to scold herself; she wasn’t to pay attention to any of that. 

Hands fairly shaking as she fought against her will, she placed the end of the tape measure in the dark golden-brown curls at the base of that lovely piece of equipment, and stretched the other end to the top of his belly over the faint strip of hair, until she located the top of his fundus. She could see everything so descriptively well in the light of her headlamp. Hmm. He did have a belly on him that wasn’t obvious in his loose, oversized shirts. Then she discovered that her intimate touching was once again stirring a reaction from him as he’d warned. Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! was all she could think. He liked. Fuck propriety, he liked!

Oh, hell. Not only did she want to dismiss the cold, clinical barrier of latex, she wanted to delight in the warmth of direct physical contact with him. Fumbling, she couldn’t rip off the gloves fast enough. And he couldn’t very well stop her or complain when she stroked, pet, and explored him. And she took advantage of that fact. Furthermore, as she feverishly played on her desire, his reflexive interest became more and more apparent, without any evidence of disapproval. He held his breath, but didn’t interfere. That was it; she was going to scream if she didn’t do something more.

With that she dropped to her knees on the tiled floor and opened her mouth to slide his glans in. Her tongue detected the tip to be wet and overwhelmingly inviting. His cock jerked against her palate, threatening to choke her as it filled out. Excitement skyrocketing, it quickly became clear to her that she didn’t know what to do with all this. The ache to have him inside her was unbearable. Forget everything he’d said—she wanted him!

In the next moment, she’d ripped off the headlamp, and shed her damp dress. Between his raised knees, as she climbed onto him, she gathered the sheet up onto his abdomen to bare his lap completely. There was no denying she’d come close to having orgasms in her sleep, throbbing so hard it physically hurt, waking her, and she was nearing that point.

Then it was a matter of straddling him, pinning him to the bed. But he caught her as she tried to mount. Determined to ignore his remonstrations, she took that erection and fought to guide it up herself.

“Mia!” he admonished. “Mia, don’t.”

In feeling him take her hips, she was ready to fight to get him inside her. Considering that his erection didn’t waver, she couldn’t imagine that she’d have to. But damnit, it wouldn’t go in! Obviously she was doing something wrong; not only did it feel like she was ramming his cock up against an immovable wall, it hurt like a bitch! Furthermore, the harder she forced, the worse the thing hurt and that couldn’t be right.

Abruptly, he sat up, his erect cock blushing. “I said don’t, and I wasn’t kidding,” he insisted, voice dead serious. “We can't do this.”

The words were hardly making sense. Instead of listening, she thrust her breasts in his face, while she struggled to sink down on his erection.

It was then that he turned her onto the bed and followed to take advantage of her bare breasts. The sensation of his mouth and lips on her skin made her feel faint. Panting, she opened her legs inviting him in.

With a soft murmur of pleasure, he steadied himself over her and eased his erection against her throbbing vulva. And pushed in.

Oh, God no! The pain was so startling, it made her cry out anew. This couldn’t be right, either. Then he assumed full control and it seemed he knew what he was doing. That, however, turned out to be an even worse mistake. Taking himself with his right hand, he drove harder. It was utterly fascinating watching him. In spite of everything, she wanted to see his body. She pulled the sheet aside while she winced and grimaced, struggling not to shriek in agony. The sight of his tensed, locked muscles in his arms, shoulders, and abs, bouncing breasts, tits standing up a full inch, and thrusting hips made her absolutely giddy. Once he began to really thrust, she cried out again each time, until she was able to suppress her howls. She had to accept that as a virgin, it was going painful. Trouble was, she hadn’t expected her first time to hurt so much, being as she’d not counted on having a partner so well-endowed.

If he took pity on her or became distracted, she knew he may stop by his very nature, which she didn’t want, so her silence was imperative. Pregnancy didn’t seem to have any effect on his determination. He continued to pound, not giving her a chance to catch her breath, despite that it felt like he was attempting to ram a baseball bat up her. She’d wanted it, begged for it, so had no right protesting.

Abruptly, they heard a muffled crack inside her and she felt that wall give as his strong erection finally sunk into her. The pain seared so bad she teared up. Then he gathered her legs up over his arms and lowered his head as he worked his hips even harder. Fuck, it hurt! Nevertheless, she kept silent, determined to endure. She’d wanted it, after all. Fortunately, the torturous thrusting was fairly short-lived; much as she’d wanted it, she was thankful to feel that big thing slip out while pleasantly warm fluid flooded her vulva and pubis. 

Oh, Jeezus God. She’d made him come.

Considering that she’d pretty much forced the whole issue, she expected that since he was done, he’d be ready for her to hurry and get the exam over with. But strangely, he didn’t act that way. He lay down with her and began to kiss and mouth her breasts with new interest.

In that moment, she saw that she’d really not forced him at all; he apparently had a real desire for her. His tender mouthing and sucking began to make up for the abuse he’d just imposed on her.

“Brian,” she whispered, wondering why they’d not done this a long time back. Her fingers entangled in his curls as she hugged his head to her breast.

Drawing up her at length, he lay partially on her, his belly tucked at her side as if he was used to taking such a position to allow for the baby. “You good?”

Looking to him with pure reverence, Mia smiled in drunken delight. “Oh, yeah,” she assured him. “It was worth it. So worth it.”

“You’d better get up in a minute or you’ll get blood on your bed.”

She started. He was right, of course.

“Hold on a second.” Fixing the kimono over his shoulders, he backed off her once again.

She watched him, enrapt. Yes, she understood he was married to her brother and wasn’t about to leave him for her just because of what he’d done. But he’d just accomplished a milestone for her. Sure, it could have been done by someone else, but it wouldn’t have had the same meaning. And Dom would kill whoever else did it. But he’d never kill his wife. He might be mad, but he’d forgive his wife, and no one else. Most importantly, she didn’t want anyone else to have taken her virginity. If Dom were to walk in right then, she’d tell him outright. There was no shame in it.

With a box of tissues, Brian returned to the bed. He half sat beside her, and flicked out several tissues, which he passed to her.

In spite of the situation, he managed to save her from serious embarrassment. His gesture proved he understood. Leaning back on her left hand, she awkwardly sat up to wipe. The sight of his white ejaculate on her mons pubis gave her pause. It was Brian’s. God, she wished he’d not pulled out. Regretfully, she looked down her body, but made no move to wipe it away.

He gathered more tissues to help her out himself.

“Don’t,” she interrupted. “I like it.” Instead she drew him forward for a gentle kiss.

An amused smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “You really need to get on with the exam.” He tucked some dry tissues against her crotch. “Better do something about that, too.”

Now embarrassed, she carefully tried to sit up on the tissues, so not to most certainly soil the bedspread. It wasn’t much of a bedspread, but it was all she had. Ow! Damn, that hurt! Before she had to be further embarrassed, Brian helped her into her robe that she hadn’t even seen him go retrieve from the back of her door. The hooks had been there when they’d moved in.

“Go clean up,” he told her. “I’ll wait.”

Bewildered and light-headed, she padded from the room with uncertainty. He was being so very sweet. And cognitive of the privacy she’d want about then. In the bathroom, she found the bleeding wasn’t as profuse as she was picturing; it was only streaking. But, oh so painful to wipe up, especially because she was trying to be thorough enough to be able to perch on the footlocker again. Unwillingly, she used a soapy washrag to clean his ejaculate.

On her return to the bedroom, she found Brian sitting up, playing with her headlamp. The kimono was thrown open beneath the sheet, which was tucked under his arms, over his chest, and covering his lap. The textbook was beside him on the bed as if he may have been perusing it. But his “chart” was still on the footlocker, untouched. Her dress, too, had been hung over the back of the chair, awaiting her.

Unwilling to sit on the wet fabric, Mia chose not to replace the dress. Pain or not, she knew she’d probably get wet again resuming her exam. Like Brian had said, he wouldn’t be able to keep from getting excited. Neither would she. What a delicious thought.

“Um, what did you learn from the book?” she asked, returning to the footlocker.

“Not much.” He looked up quickly, switching off the light. “I could really use something like this to work on the cars.”

“That’s a good idea,” she concurred. “Why did you stop reading?”

He glanced at it. “It looked kind a scary. I don’t wanna know too much, you know?”

Using care, she took her seat on the trunk again. If she sat very still and lightly, she might be able to stand it. When she reached for the book, a stab of pain shot through her perineum. Impulsively, she couldn’t keep from hissing. “Uh, could you let me have it?”

Passing it to her, he studied her a moment. “Maybe you should get up here on the bed with me. I’ll scoot up to the head of the bed. Lemme have a couple of pillows and I’ll put ‘em under my ass.”

She was more than agreeable. “Good idea.” The thought of lying with him on her bed was beyond inviting. She stood again and started for the head of the bed to fetch her pillows. Even better, when he got up, he didn’t make an effort to keep himself covered; he let the sheet fall to the side and the kimono open. Only when he crawled up the bed did the silk fabric drape over him again. Then in an unintentionally magnificent move, he lay back, knees up, to adjust the pillows under his hips, the kimono spread beneath him. This exposed him so well, Mia caught her breath in awe. As intended, he was well-posed for examination.

There was no doubt he appeared perfect. When he started to draw the kimono closed in modesty, she was forced to remember his privacy rights and sprang back to life to spread the sheet over him again. Damn privacy rights. She stumbled to relocate her vocal cords as she opened the book. “I-I'm going to look up your measurement to-to help determine how far along you are.”

“You’re not gonna do a bimanual exam?”

The fact that he thought of that before she did was a little unnerving. As the “physician” she should have thought of that some time back. “Y-yes, of course. A-after I check the external measurement of your belly. I’m getting a cross reference to check against. None of these methods are exact, you see. The best way to tell for certain is with a sonogram. Since we don’t have access to one, we can only get a rough estimate. But we may as well get the best rough estimate we can.”

“That’s what my doctor said.”

“That’s correct,” she said, not bothering to mention that she had nowhere the expertise needed to be able to judge how far along he was via the bimanual technique. But she was ready to carry it out for the sheer fun of it.

As she fumbled through the book, wishing she’d placed a sticky note for a book mark in advance, she ran across several other chapters. She had to rely on memory to find the place in the book. Then again, perhaps it was just as well she hadn’t placed a book mark, because flipping through pages helped prompt some reminders of issues to look for.

When she found the chart and compared it to her memorized finding, she was reminded that after week sixteen, the weeks of gestation more or less corresponded with the centimeter measurement. “It looks like you’re between twenty-one and twenty-three weeks along. Does that sound right?”

Brian seemed to be considering. “That’s pretty rough in terms of guesswork. That’s a whole couple of weeks—half a month.”

“It’s hard to be exact,” she tried to cover. Judging where the top of his fundus was exactly through firm, hard muscle wasn’t easy. “That’s why an ultrasound would be so helpful.”

“My doctor got a more precise idea just by doing the bimanual exam. He didn’t even measure me.”

Clearly O'Conner wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything but a bimanual exam. Well, this was all the better for Mia. This time she knelt between his feet. Tingling with adrenalin and curiosity, she held her breath as she drew the sheet up to his knees again. Oh, yes. Though he was relaxed, the moment she brushed his heavy sac to slide a finger inside him, he stirred. That only made her heart pound, restarting the throbbing between her legs. No gloves for her. Her steady entrance revealed he was slippery wet, precluding any need for the K-Y jelly she’d set out with her equipment. On adding another finger to her internal exploration, Brian sighed softly in what could only be described as pleasure. Encouraged, she pressed deeper into his invitingly close, warm canal. Instantly she found herself envious to have him--to make love to him.

Still feeling drunk, her other hand fumbled over his belly to feel out the size and shape of his uterus. It was very distinct, she found as she sought through his muscle. No wonder his doctor chose this as the best means of detection. Trouble was, she didn’t know what his size meant. She did, however, know that the sensation of his slippery secretions on her finger was turning her on like mad and her ministrations were evoking an increasing firmness of his male genitalia. 

Pushed beyond reason, the hand on his abdomen shifted to those genitals. She began rubbing and pulling, which hastened his response. He began to breathe harder. “Mia,” he said.

Ignoring him, she withdrew her fingers and got down on the bed on her belly between his raised thighs. Tempted as she’d been, she’d never had the chance to taste snatch. Now that she had the chance, nothing was going to stop her from tasting Brian’s.

“Mia, no.” Scrambling, he pulled up towards the head of the bed and off the pillows to interfere with her reach. “We shouldn’t do this.”

Freeing her knees from her robe, she crawled up the bed after him and lay against him, a hand on his breastbone. “Why not? No one’s gonna know. We can finish the exam afterwards.”

“We’ve already done too much. You measured. That’s enough. I’m all right, aren’t I?”

“You’re more than all right, you’re incredible.” Her arm slid up around his neck and she drew him into another kiss.

Though he didn’t exactly kiss back, he allowed it. Then caught her upper arm. “You probably ought a check you’re not still bleeding.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“Please. Come on, Mia. We’ve gotta get on with the exam. What if Dom comes home for lunch? He didn’t say what he was gonna do.”

That made her stop. She’d put the worry of that possibility at the back of her mind. She looked down their bodies. Their nipples were standing. His pregnant belly stuck out, but that didn’t interfere with his impressive sexiness. “All right,” she allowed. “I see your point.” As she unwillingly backed off the bed, she wouldn’t take her eyes off him. Getting him naked on her bed had been harder than hell. It wasn’t paranoid to imagine that getting him back in this position might never happen again. Even though she was supposed to continue regular checkups on him, she knew the next time Brian would insist that Dom attend or arrange something else to make it a hopeless cause for her.

Worse, as soon as she was off the bed, Brian quickly started to do likewise.

“Hold on,” she suddenly interrupted. Eyes still riveted to him, she patted the foot of the bed. “Get down here again.”

Determined to cover up, he tried to tie the kimono, but she arrested him. “No, there’s something else I may need to check.”

“You’ve already seen everything there is to see.”

“Yeah, but…” She waited until he complied. All she had to do was flick the kimono open and she was easily reminded of the size of his pelvic girdle. “You might have a problem delivering.”

“What?” Brian sounded mildly alarmed.

“Your pelvis. You’ve got a narrow pelvis.”

“Oh, that. Dr. Adams mentioned that.”

That was even more disturbing. Mia considered the possibility that she may be overreacting, but if Brian’s Ob/Gyn had said it, her estimation was correct. “Did he say you’d have to have a cesarean?”

“He said I might have to, yeah.”

“But he wouldn’t say for certain,” she surmised, “because it was still early. The fact that he also said it bears out my concern. I need to get a pelvimeter to be more certain. As I continue to measure the baby over time, I’ll have a better idea as you get closer to delivery.”

Brian looked up her to where she stood in front of him and frowned. “I’ll have to go to a hospital and you won't be able to deliver me.”

“Well, that depends.” She licked her lips nervously. “We may be lucky and you may not need a C-section.” The prospect of delivering a baby was fairly frightening since she’d never even seen a birth before, let alone participated in one. She’d only read about them. So she’d better do a lot of studying in the next four months. Maybe even volunteer at a local clinic. It just wouldn’t help if he turned out to need a cesarean. Still, along with midwifing for Brian, it would be more good hand’s on experience for her. “In the meantime, we should invest in a pelvimeter.”

“Where do we get one a those?”

“I-I don't know,” she had to admit. “I’ll have to look into it online.”

~~~

Upon return home at around sunset, Dom found his wife out in the garage working on the Integra. Crouching with an impact wrench in hand, he was clearly replacing the wheels.

“Should he be doing that?” Jesse wondered aloud as Dom pulled the Ramcharger up to the garage. 

That was exactly what Dom was wondering. “Probably not,” Dom murmured, annoyed at Brian’s constant seeming disregard for their baby. Still, he knew Brian was just being Brian. Almost before the truck stopped rolling, Dom got out. “What’re you doing, Mrs. Toretto?”

Apparently not hearing him, Brian didn’t answer until Dom came up to the rear of the Integra. “Oh, hey! I got the brakes done on the Integra in time to race tonight.”

“I didn’t tell you to do that,” Dom pointed out. “I didn’t even say we’d be racing tonight.”

“But we can now.” Setting the wrench down, Brian rose and came to Dom. “Lemme clear up, then I’ll come inside and shower with you. I missed you.”

It was impossible to stay mad at Brian when he was being affectionate. And seeing as Jesse was prudently heading up to the backdoor of the house, Dom drew his wife close for a kiss. “I missed you too, baby. But honestly.” He put his hand on Brian’s bulky hoodie over the baby. “You have to think of her, too. You’re gonna have to chill out doing this kind a work ‘til after the baby.”

“I thought it was a he.”

“We ought a start considering the possibility he might be a she.” Dom kissed Brian deeper.

The screen door of the house slammed while they continued kissing, smearing each other with oil and tire smut. Mia’s voice cut into the middle of their deepening exchange, just as Dom took the sharp angle of O'Conner’s jaw.

“Look what Brian’s doing!” Mia snapped. “He’s been at it all afternoon. I couldn’t get him to leave the brakes alone! He wouldn’t listen to me!”

Dom abruptly drew back to regard his sister. She was in a button-up sweater over sweat pants, her apron on top of that. She hadn’t been wearing that outfit that morning. “Did you check him out?”

“Y-yes,” she nodded tersely.

“He’s okay?” Dom pressed, prompting further explanation.

While awaiting Mia’s report, Brian resumed packing up tools. Dom immediately began to help, since his wife had already overdone it. Perhaps he was feeling guilty because something wasn’t right and yet he’d taken it upon himself to court a miscarriage. “Brian!” Dom snapped. “Leave the stuff. I’ll put it away.”

Mia finally proceeded. “He’s going to have a hard time when he delivers. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

“What?” Dom’s blood iced. He went to Brian and manually stopped him, carefully drawing him into a stand. “How do you know that?”

“Because,” Mia continued patiently, “his hips are narrow. I know that doesn’t mean he can’t deliver, but he says his doctor came to the same conclusion. If his experienced Ob/Gyn said the same thing, the chances are significantly high that he’ll have a difficult delivery. I’m going to have to buy a pelvimeter and keep a close eye on the size of the baby as it grows. Of course, people can still wind up needing C-sections even if the pelvis is ideal if there are complications. But in a case like this, I’d err on the side of caution and pretty much assume he’ll probably need a cesarean. I will keep track, though, if I can get a pelvimeter.”

“Well, where can you get one of those?” Dom had taken to repacking the tools. Brian suddenly seemed far too fragile.

“I checked,” Mia replied, “and the closest place might be Santa Clara. They said they might be able to order one for me.”

“Where’s that?” Dom wanted to know as he stepped up to stop Brian again.

“I-I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I still have to look into that, but I think it’s back up north, near Ensenada.”

“Then you’ll go there,” Dom said. “I want the baby monitored as close as possible.”

Mia went on. “I think he should get a sonogram, too. Judging by what his doctor told him, he should be around twenty-two weeks. That’s around what I found, but I’d feel better if he had that sonogram. I can’t tell anywhere as much as a sonogram can. They’ll even be able to sex the baby by now.”

That sounded like the best course yet. “Is there a way for that to happen?”

“Nah,” Brian negated. “Only if I get started at a clinic here. It can’t be a one-time deal. They’ll never go for that. And I can’t chance getting registered with no clinic. Forget that, Dom. Let’s just go get cleaned up.”

The smudges on Brian’s chin and the tip of his nose were almost too cute to wash away. But to be alone with him was enough to motivate Dom to move faster. “But I’d like you to get that sonogram,” he insisted. “That way we can know for sure the baby’s doing good. And we can plan for a boy or a girl.”

“He is doing good,” Brian said reassuringly. “I'm sure she is. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl; I’d rather be surprised.”

With hope hinged on faith, Dom glanced to his sister. “You’d better figure something else out, Mia. He’s right; we can’t have him sign up at no doctor’s office.” He set about breaking down the jack before his wife could.

~~~

While Jesse showered in the house, Dom and Brian returned to the garage to wash up enough to have dinner. While Dom discussed his and day at work, Brian remained strangely silent. Dom could sense that his wife wasn’t comfortable. At length, Brian cleared his throat while Dom dried off his hands on one of the towels.

“Dom. I did something fucked. I-I don’t know how to tell you...”

“Something fucked?” Dom looked up and down his wife. “You’re okay, aren’t you?

“Y-yeah. It was Mia…We…she…Hell, it was why I didn’t want her to do a formal exam.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, I had to get completely undressed, you know. And she…she got all excited…Yeah, she was supposed to check me out and touch me, you know. That’s what an exam is…”

In dread, Dom stopped drying. “What happened? What did she do?”

“Well…She did…she did what she was supposed to do. Yeah. She started…And I…I couldn’t help it—I got-I got turned on. You know I always thought she was beautiful…I-I honestly wouldn’t have done anything, but then she took her dress off. She took her dress off and she had nothing on underneath.”

“What are you telling me?” Dom wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He looked to his wife. He hadn’t changed—was still as cute as ever. And visibly pregnant with Dom's baby. But what the fuck…? He couldn’t mean what it sounded like he meant.

Having seen the tire smudges on his face in the mirror, Brian bent over the sink to wash. “I'm telling you what I'm telling you. I'm telling you 'cos I feel like shit that I did it.”

Dom seized Brian’s left elbow. “Did what? What’d you do to my baby sister?”

“How the fuck was I supposed to say no?” Brian snatched his arm away. “How was I supposed to turn her down?” Then he straightened and caught Dom. “Look, I'm sorry, man. I'm so fucking sorry. You shouldn’t have made us do a goddamn exam.”

“Oh, that’s your excuse? It’s my fault? You fucked my sister because I wanted you and the baby to get checked out? How could you do that?” Dom was shocked.

“No, man,” Brian snapped irritably, and bent over the sink again, head down. “I did what I did 'cos she wouldn’t let up on me! She didn’t act all innocent. She wanted it!”

If it wasn’t bad enough that Brian had violated Mia, now he was calling her a whore. Once more Dom grabbed him and shoved him up against the painted wall, pinning him there with an arm against his shoulders. “You telling me she’s been running around with other guys? She better not have, or I’ll kill her!”

Blinking, Brian instantly looked sorry. “No, man. Nothing like that. It’s my fault. My fault 'cos I didn’t wanna hurt her feelings. My fault 'cos I don't know what the fuck’s wrong with me, but I couldn’t control myself.” He started to cry. “My fault because I always thought she was pretty.”

As Dom looked over his wife, he found himself beginning to feel responsible for much of that guilt and Mia the rest. In those few seconds, he’d felt the same anger flare as when Brian confessed he was a cop. All of the explosive feelings Dom was experiencing were wildly unexpected, but he couldn’t help it. Broken down like that, it became apparent that none of what Brian described was actually his fault. The whole situation took a turn as Dom scrutinized it anew. He was reading too much into it. He knew all too well that his wife really was a good person. 

Hold diminishing, Dom gaze softened as he slid his hands down Brian’s thin upper arms. “Wait a minute, baby…It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is. I should have stopped it from happening. I love you. I got no business even having thoughts like that about her. Of course she’s beautiful—she’s your sister.” Brian cried harder.

Touched, Dom drew him close and cradled his head on his shoulder. “Oh, honey, no. And no, you couldn’t bring yourself to hurt her feelings. And the way you’ve been—you can't help that either. That’s my fault. I put a baby in you and your hormones are all crazy. You can't help any of it.”

“There was no way turning her down wasn’t gonna hurt her feelings. Since before we got married, she’s been hurt. So what was I supposed to do?” he howled.

“Look, baby. It’s okay, I promise.” He rocked Brian. “You didn’t have a choice. I know you wouldn’t have wanted to hurt her feelings. You don’t got it in you.”

That seemed to reassure Brian. His tears quieted. “You really believe I didn’t have a choice?”

“In light of everything, yeah. I did put you up to this in more ways than one, you’re right.”

“I should a just…just…” Brian couldn’t seem to think of any solutions, either. “I don't know, but it wasn’t right.”

“It might not a been right, but you had no choice.” Dom patted Brian’s strong back, feeling the hard muscles. He wondered what Mia thought of those muscles. “You didn’t…hurt her, did you?”

Brian began to sound desperate again. “What do you mean ‘hurt’ her? She wanted it. What was I supposed to do? I can tell you, we never would a got through that exam unless I did it. And it always hurts the first time.”

“The first…?” The extent of Brian’s admission fully struck Dom. Brian hadn’t been speaking metaphorically, either. And what he’d done…What he’d done would have made Dom crack open the skull of anyone else who’d have done that to his sister. This was different. This was his wife. And if anyone was gonna do it, it would have to be Brian. Brian big-ass-dick O'Conner, which of course would have made it hurt worse than any ordinary guy.

Swallowing back his anger, Dom placed Brian’s head down again and caressed his curls. “It’s okay, baby. Really. I promise.”

~~~

In the house, Dom sent Brian on ahead to their room then entered the kitchen behind him. Mia was busy at the kitchen counter with dinner. She’d doffed the sweater, under which she wore a draping knit pullover under her bibbed apron. He took off his own jacket, watching her. Sure enough, she felt his gaze as she worked over dinner.

“What is it?” she finally asked, glancing to him uncomfortably.

“What you did to my wife…”

“What? Are we planning on going out racing tonight? Brian said that was why he ‘had’ to do the brakes on the Integra.”

“You’ve upset him.” Dom stepped close to her so he could speak quiet and menacing. “I don’t like it when he’s upset.”

“What?” This time she frowned when she glanced to him before returning her attention to the cooktop. “What’re you talking about?”

“Just what the fuck did you think you were doing? I can't imagine what was going through your head.” Dom gestured at his temples.

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.” She nonchalantly lifted the lid of a pan to check inside. “I examined him at long last. It was way past time.”

“You know exactly what I'm talking about. How could you do that shit to him? Force yourself on him.”

“What!” She dropped the lid on the stove with a clatter. “Where did you get that idea? What did he say to you?”

“He didn’t put it like that. But that’s what it all boiled down to. You have no idea what you put him through. That was the last damn thing he needed.”

Grabbing a towel, she fumbled to pick up the hot lid and set it on the counter. “What-what did he say?”

“He said,” Dom went on even more dangerously, “that while you were examining him, you took your dress off, which you were naked underneath, and came onto him. I can't believe you did that shit to him! Like you were some low-life street whore. You were raised better than that!”

“Wha…?” Her mouth moved dumbly. Incapable of viable excuse. “I…I can't believe he said that! You’re lying.”

“That’s not the kind of lie I’d make up. I’d never even want to picture you that way. With anyone, let alone my wife.”

“But-but,” she stuttered. “It’s him! He made that up.”

“It’s not the kind of lie he’d make up, either. I especially can't believe it after what happened to him when those fucking sick assholes kidnapped him. He was messed up enough without you throwing yourself on him.”

Promptly, she stole from between him and the counter, keeping her back to him. “I told you how much I didn’t want to come with you! I wish I never had! I should have stayed home and just forgotten all about him!”

Studying her thin shoulders from behind, her long, sleek ponytail trailing down her back, Dom began to develop a new understanding of his sister. He saw then that she was still smitten with O'Conner. It suddenly made sense why she’d been so miserable. Why she’d not wanted to attend the wedding or be the Maid of Honor or even find Brian a gown. Why she’d resented being kept under such close guard at the hotels. Most of all, why she’d done what she had. Every minute of their trek had been agony for her. It wasn’t the trip, the guy at the hotel in Ensenada, the bad tasting food, the Montezuma’s revenge, or the crappy little house with the spiders. It was about O'Conner. “Mia…” Dom didn’t know how to fix the problem. How to tell her not to worry, he’d deal with it, like he always did. This one he had no idea how to handle.

Essentially, she’d seduced Brian. It seemed improbable that he couldn’t control the situation and put her off. But he had too many reasons why he’d not. No wonder the poor kid had broken down and spilled it all to his husband. He was pregnant and thereby overly emotional and had just come off a traumatizing event; he couldn’t even think straight.

Hearing the food sizzling, Dom switched off the burner before it could simmer over. He wanted to take Mia in his arms, but was still grimy from the garage. “Listen, Mia…”

Before he could formulate his sentence, she was untying her apron. “I, um…I’ll go start packing. Dinner’s done, so you guys can eat any time. I'm not hungry.” Keeping her back to him, she went to go hang the apron up on the hook on the door into the utility room.

“No, wait,” he said. “I didn’t tell you I wanted you to leave. I'm not asking you to. We still need you here, you know that.”

“To cook meals and clean house? I know you sure don't want me going near Brian again.”

“I never said that.” Oil and tire smut or not, Dom caught her on her way past him. “I'm not gonna say that. I just didn’t know you still felt that strongly about him. I knew you liked him, but that was way back when. I thought you’d gotten over him.”

“You didn’t,” she pointed out astutely.

“Yeah, but…” He couldn’t even say what he was going to. Since he had a lot more reason to have been so affronted by Brian’s deceit. Yet he had fallen deeply in love with him. There was no arguing with Mia. They were both Torettos; how could they not fall in love with the same man? Still frowning, she kept her eyes averted, not looking at him. She was ashamed of her behavior, no doubt. “I'm not sure what to say. I know how I feel about him. I can easily understand how you feel. You’re not a stranger, you’re my sister. It’s even hard to be pissed at him for touching you. I mean, I couldn’t imagine the guy I could ever put up with that you’d eventually sleep with. I can't hate Brian for that, much as I thought I was gonna hate whoever it was. Anyway, you were the one who took more of the advantage of him, but I can't hate you, either. I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. And I pretty much set it up…” He was somewhat astonished to consider that. “I'm not throwin’ my sister out. You’re still familia and you’ll always mean everything to me. We’ll just have to figure this thing out. Now, because you upset the hell out of Brian, I still have to deal with him. Set the table and get ready for dinner. Maybe we ought a go check out the racing scene tonight and see what’s going on. Get our minds off things for tonight.”

While she seemed to be reconfiguring her attitude, Jesse came in from the dining room scrubbed clean, his hair dripping wet. “Dinner ready? I'm starving.” He went to the cupboard to collect dinnerware.

Mia drew from Dom again to turn back to the counter. “Let’s set the table. Dom’s still gotta shower.”

~~~

In the bedroom, Dom found his wife sitting on the edge of his side of the bed, elbows on knees, in the darkening room. As Dom doffed his jacket, he saw Brian reach for a tissue by the bed, sniffing.

“Hey,” Dom said. “It’s okay. I'm not mad at you.” He hung his jacket up on the hook behind the door, which he shut down, and came to the bed. “I can't be mad at you. I love you too much.” Drawing Brian close, Dom hugged him and tucked up against that long neck, nose in the soft curls.

“I feel like shit,” Brian managed. “I saw how you felt about this, how much you protected her. I'm sure you wanted her to be perfect when she got married. It was stupid and fucked up of me. You should hate me. You should kick the crap out a me. I can't believe I did that…”

“Yeah, I should. But I could never do anything like that. I love you so much, baby.”

“No, it was fucked!”

“I gotta tell you, I’d have killed anyone else who did that. But this is all different. You’re the only one who makes sense to be the one. You’re the only one I’d never beat the shit out of. And she’s happy about it. I know she’s worried about my reaction and she’s worried for you. But otherwise, I think she’s happy. How can I be mad about that?”

“You’d be mad at anyone else!”

“I’d kill anyone else. I think I'm actually grateful you did it so I wouldn’t have to kill some prick who took advantage of my baby sister. I know you didn’t. I know she took advantage of you, but only because she’s so in love with you. That’s a problem, I know. So long as she doesn’t expect you’re gonna go on doing this on a regular basis, we’ll get past this.”

“A regular basis!” Brian finally glanced to Dom. In the dim light, he was still able to see Brian’s wet, panicked eyes. “Hell no! I'm not gonna do this again! I’m gonna get a comadrona, like she said. No more a this! It was crazy and fucked up, and I shouldn’t a done it!” Pulling from Dom, Brian threw himself on his pillow to cry.

“Brian.” Dom drew up beside his wife and put his arm around him to hold him and their baby. Beneath his hand, he thought he felt restless stirring. “Brian, baby, please. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I forgive you. You’re more important to me. You are, believe me.” To be certain, he pressed harder.

“Aren't you gonna go shower and have dinner?”

“None a that matters. You and the baby are the only ones who matter to me right now. Is he okay? I thought I felt something. I never feel him so easy.”

“I don't know, man. I just wanna be left alone!”

“Don’t fight me. I'm worried about you and the baby.” He tried to coax Brian onto his back.

Pulling his feet onto the bed, Brian complied, surprisingly, knees up. He even let Dom bare his abdomen. “He’s kicking. Kicking like mad. He’s hungry.”

“Oh, honey. Come and eat. Feed him. Better yet, I’ll bring you dinner. You don’t have to come out to the table. That’s okay.”

“I'm not hungry.”

“But the baby…” Dom thought he felt further movement.

“All right, you go shower. I’ll go get some dinner, I promise. We’re probably getting motor oil and axel grease all over the bedspread.” Covering his face with a tissue, Brian sat up. “I don’t want to face Mia ever again. What I did to her…There’s no undoing that.”

“Honey.” Dom sat up, as well. “She wanted it, didn’t she? You said so, yourself. You said she came onto you like crazy. Don’t blame yourself for this. You shouldn’t blame yourself at all, in fact. It was my fault, it was her fault. But not you. You wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t for your hormones and our pushing. I know you, Brian. You’re my wife.” 

~~~

Monday – October 23

Tensions in the house were strained over the weekend. Dom noticed that like Brian had stated, he was extremely uncommunicative and withdrawn around Mia. Mostly he avoided her as much as he could. It was apparent she was reserved around both he and Dom, but worse around Brian. Time would remedy that, Dom hoped. Then Monday morning, while Jesse and Dom were gaming on the living room TV on their day off, instead of joining them, Brian got busy on the computer.

Curious, Dom wandered over to assess what Brian was doing. He found he was busy scrolling through Ob/Gyn clinics, making phone calls, and taking notes by hand.

“What’re you doing, Brian?” Dom asked abruptly.

His wife covered the mouthpiece. “Making an appointment with a comadron.”

“With a what?”

“A midwife…” Then Brian uncovered the receiver. He went on in Spanish, seeking a sooner appointment. “I was told by my obstetrician that I have to see a midwife as soon as possible because I'm high risk…”

“You’ve got one,” Dom reminded Brian. “You don’t need to see anyone else.”

“…Nothing this week?” Brian seemed to be ignoring his husband. “Are you sure?...I’m more than halfway through my pregnancy and I’ve only been seen twice by a doctor. The last time was more than a month ago…”

Fitting his hand over his wife’s long fingers, Dom succeeded at commandeering the receiver by way of surprise, catching only a few strands of curls. “I'm the husband, and thanks, but no thanks.” Then he hung up. “Brian, what are you doing? You’ve got a perfectly good midwife right here at home. Are you saying she’s not good enough?”

“No. I'm not saying that at all. But,” and Brian dropped his voice, “it would make me too uncomfortable to let her examine me again.”

“You’ve just gotta get used to it. And the only way to deal with that is by getting back on the horse. There’s no other way.”

“No.” Brian scrolled more on the computer screen. “I can't. I don’t want to go through that again. This is important, Dom. This is our baby. Besides, I need to have an ultrasound and my pelvis measured and all that. Mia can't get me an ultrasound plus she says she needs to buy something or another to measure my pelvis—something I’m sure--”

“Measure your pelvis? What for?”

“She said the same thing Gar—Dr. Adams said; I may have to have a cesarean section delivery. If the midwife says the same thing, then there’s no question about it. Which means I’ve got to have a pro with access to an operating room deliver me. There’s no way Mia can do that. The only sure way to know is to get in to see a comadron. I know it’ll cost some money, but we don't got a choice. And he or she can do that ultrasound and we can know for sure that the baby’s all right. I know he is, but it’s only 'cos I'm high risk that I'm worried.”

Unfortunately, Brian had a hell of a good point. But that was only a worst case scenario. The chances were low that he’d have to have surgery. In surrender, Dom dropped down to a crouch beside the desk, looking over his wife. “Go ahead and make an appointment.”

~~~

In the evening, since Brian had expressed his lingering discomfort with Mia, Dom hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the incident. He’d tried to see past it, but as Brian wasn’t able to, neither could Dom. And damn but there was good reason to dwell on it.

When they were in bed and should have been kissing and indulging in foreplay, Dom kept hesitating. He could see Brian was frowning in consternation, struggling to respond to his husband. And in fact, Dom was having trouble looking at his wife and seeing him as that instead of the thoughtless dildo who’d stolen his sister’s cherry. As he’d observed, any other prick he would have beat senseless, within an inch of his stinking, no-account life. Hell, it was hard to imagine that the very body he’d made love to and revered so deeply had ever done anything like that. It was a good thing Brian was wearing a negligee, his lap covered, or the more Dom thought about it, the more likely he was to rip Brian into a full feme in one motion. It couldn’t have really happened. Brian would never do that. He had way too much love and respect for Dom and Mia.

Sliding up against Brian, Dom gathered him and turned them facing each other on the mattress, eye level. “You didn’t really go all the way with my sister, did you? You got a little emotional so you exaggerated.” Knowing any pregnancy case could get overly histrionic with all those rampant hormones, it actually made perfect sense that that was exactly what had happened. Dom had tried not to notice that Mia had been walking noticeably slower and sitting down carefully for a couple of days. Could be other things that could make her do that. A belly-ache or monthly cramps. And if she was having cramps, then of course nothing even close to sex could have happened between his sister and wife.

“What are you saying?” Brian frowned, turning accusatory. “You think I’m acting all hysterical 'cos I'm pregnant and making shit up?”

“No, no.” Dom rushed to dowse a brewing storm. “I didn’t mean you made it up, you just exaggerated. I know she’s pretty and you always had a little thing for her. But you wouldn’t do a thing like that to my sister. So you kissed her. I can forgive you that.”

Brian lowered his lids. “I wish that was all I did. But I can't lie to you. I just can't. That’s why I told you right off. It’s tearing me up inside. I didn’t mean to do this to you.”

“I didn’t accuse you of lying, baby.”

“Yes you did. You just said I was exaggerating. I love you too much to lie to you anymore. That’s what broke us apart. The lies I had to tell you. I can never do that again.”

If that was true, as endearing as it was, it meant Brian had indeed done what he’d admitted.

Dom sat up. His sister. His dear, sweet, little sister…What the fuck was that about? Could he ever see his wife the same?

With that, Brian slid to the other side of the bed and sat up, as well. “Would it make you feel any better if you beat the crap out a me?”

In silence, Dom waited for the impact for that desire sunk in. Anyone else, he wouldn’t have had to wait. How could this be? How was Brian any different? Maybe because Dom loved him so damn much it overshadowed the faux pas. After all, it was apparent Brian would never dream of doing it again. He said it was tearing him up inside. Wasn’t the damage already done? Why should that matter? If anyone else did it and Dom castrated them, it wouldn’t make the situation any better; he’d still want to beat the crap out of them even though they could never do it again, either.

He looked over his wife’s sweet profile in the quiet lamplight. It wasn’t even about his prominent belly filled with Dom’s child. It was a simple and pure love of Brian. One that surpassed anything else. “No, baby.” Dom reached for his wife and drew him close. “I don’t honestly couldn’t hurt a hair on your head. I think it’s all right.” He hugged Brian tightly. “It really is. Like I said before, if it was gonna be anybody, you’re the only one I’d be okay with.” Holding Brian that close, just the sound of his breath and the beat of his heart were all the reassurance Dom needed.

~~~

Wednesday—October 25

It was with surprising anxiety that Brian opened the front door for the comadron. This even though Mia was preoccupied shopping and Dom and Jesse were at the garage. The midwife turned out to be older and thereby plenty experienced. That should have put Brian at ease, but it didn’t. Instead he felt more and more anxious as they settled in the living room to get to know each other.

As always, since arriving south of the border, Brian gave one of his aliases, for which he already had fake ID to back. Even though it hadn’t bothered him to use an alias in his first and only undercover case for the police, he wasn’t enjoying inventing or using fake names. He and Dom always concocted the names together, since Brian would naturally take the last name Dom chose for himself, as his wife. But it felt wrong. And lying to a medical professional felt worse. There was no recourse. He knew the information he gave to the comadron would go onto a record in his office and would therefore be traceable. What Brian couldn’t lie about was his medical history, since the comadron would need to know the exact truth to be able to make the best decisions for care. Hence the reason for performing this part of the exam without Dom around.

The midwife was bilingual and though he’d spoken Spanish over the phone, upon sight of Brian, immediately switched to broken English. Nervousness had Brian switching back and forth from Spanish to English. Sometimes he didn’t know the word in Spanish, anyway. And though the comadron had a comforting voice and attitude, it didn’t seem to sway Brian much. He didn’t like admitting that since Mia had purchased that bathroom scale she’d talked about, he’d weighed himself to find he’d gained only some five to six pounds so far since becoming pregnant. As always, he stalled when it came time to answer the prying questions about his obstetrical history. It didn’t help that he heard Mia return home through the back door then. Damn, she made him doubly nervous. At first he’d considered she could give this information to the comadron, but not anymore.

That state of anxiety grew to the point that Brian nearly started to hyperventilate until he opted to skip the history for the time being and move on.

Moving on, unfortunately meant proceeding with the physical exam. Aware of the presence of someone else in the house, though they’d not been introduced, the comadron immediately offered to do the preliminary exam in a bedroom. He’d just need a few minutes to prep a space while Brian disrobed.

That was even worse. The flood of fear that froze in Brian’s veins, knotted his stomach, and made his skin ice over was irrational, he realized, but nevertheless daunting. He started to move, then could only blink at his guest. “No puedo…”

“Por que no?” the comadron asked, already on his own feet, doctor bag in hand. “Jour bed better than office, no?” He tried to smile encouragingly.

“I-I just can't...” was all Brian could say. He couldn’t even bring himself to stand, as it would take him that much closer to actually having to go through with it.

“Mrs. Ferrante, tranquilo. It’s okay. I've done this many times.”

The panic became more uncontrollable. Reason evaded Brian. He didn’t understand why it was suddenly so frightening to have a qualified comadron exam him when it was so vital to the health of his child. There was only one solution and that was to call the whole thing off. He tried to think of the words in Spanish, but his panic seemed to be interfering with his thought processes. “Um, I’ve changed my mind,” he stammered in English. “I-I don’t want to be seen after all.” Only then he could stand to attempt to usher the visitor from the house.

While the man tried to gently dissuade Brian, Mia abruptly entered from the dining room. Despite the fact that Brian had been avoiding her, just seeing someone familiar was of immediate comfort. Her eyes briefly swept over him, then she addressed the comadron. “Con permiso, me llame Renata,” she said, using one of her own aliases they’d agreed on. She identified herself as Brian’s sister-in-law. “Soy su cuñada.” They shook hands and he introduced himself. She proceeded in Spanish. “I think I can help. I was a medical student and I have examined my brother-in-law.” She quickly glanced at him, expressing that she didn’t know which of his agreed-upon aliases he’d used, so didn’t know what to call him. “I can fill you in on his pertinent medical history. He has difficulty discussing it.”

Right then, blinking at Mia, Brian felt a new appreciation of her. A hell of an appreciation. Given the way he’d been treating her the last four days, he was shocked she’d lift a finger on his behalf. He hadn’t talked to her and avoided her as much. The only way he could have stood to deal with her was in apology for the horrible way he’d used her out of sheer lust. He’d been so damn horny he couldn’t control himself. Never mind that she’d obviously been horny, too. It was still wrong and he shouldn’t have done it. It was a damned if he had and damned if he hadn’t situation. She’d be hurt. Either hurt that he’d used her or hurt to find out he wasn’t interested in an encore performance. Hell no! And not because he didn’t find her attractive, because she was damn attractive. It was just so wrong when he loved everything about her brother so much it ached. To ever hurt him like that again was unthinkable.

Drifting in and out of their discussion, Brian found his attitude toward Mia changing again. The way he saw her now was as saint and savior. As he’d hoped she might, she provided the hateful information Brian had no desire to repeat out loud—even the stupid-sounding one about having forgotten the date of his last period. Importantly, like the savior she was, she didn’t make it sound stupid, either, like he had. She gently took his awful history and made it sound reasonable, forgivable, and understandable. Furthermore, she framed his assault, which she thankfully knew little about, in a way to make it bearable to hear, and so the comadron would comprehend the reason for Brian’s hesitation. In Spanish, no less.

Then she went on to the technical aspects of her findings from the tests she’d run. Brian had already given the comadron a general run-down, telling him that everything he asked about was normal, but the way she put it using medical terminology was much more impressive.

Come time to get to the physical exam, while Brian was in awe of Mia, feeling like there was no need to ever be uncomfortable around her again, she continued. “I did a comprehensive examination of him, and again, his pregnancy is progressing normally. What I could not do was a bimanual exam to assess the age of the gestacion. I do not have the expertise to do so with certainty, as I am only a student. You may want to do that or schedule an ultrasonido. At this time, he is still afraid after the abduction and assault he suffered.”

Nervously, Brian almost sprang forward to explain that he wasn’t actually “afraid.” The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized he couldn’t think of another word for it, either. It was a fear of being touched or poked by a stranger.

“Another thing I could not determine,” Mia was saying, “was the apertura of the pelvis. He has narrow, android hips and this may interfere with birth, necessitating a cesarean section. He told me his obstetrician warned him of this previously, which increases the likelihood. If you could measure his pelvis, we could prepare for either a natural childbirth or surgery.”

Not knowing what it would entail for the comadron to take a pelvic measurement, Brian again balked. “Can’t-can't we do that when I go have the ultrasound? Can we just schedule the ultrasound now and do all that at the same time? Then Vito can go with me when all that stuff is done.”

Confused, Mia frowned at him. “But you’re not alone; I can accompany you right now while Mr. Godinez does the measurement.”

Helpful as Mia had seemed to be, Brian suddenly saw this offer as threatening. Even though she couldn’t possibly have meant it that way. Perhaps it was something else. Perhaps it was more of a peace offering. The opposite of what he initially thought, more as a gesture of good will, to let him see that she wasn’t the enemy. Her presence would temper the presence of the stranger. His hyperventilating began to calm, but only slightly; he still had no desire to be examined by any stranger. Not without Dom there. “I-I'm not sure about this…”

Mr. Godinez spoke up. “Is this Vito…Is he your husband?” he asked Brian in English.

“Si,” Brian said quickly. “Mi esposo.”

“Then I understand,” Mr. Godinez assured Brian. “We’ll make appointment for ultrasonido and measurement right away when your husband can come.” He sat down to take a daily planner from his lab coat pocket and began combing through it.

“It’s just a simple measurement,” Mia stressed. “It might make it easier for you to handle having the sonogram.”

“With Vito there it will be easier,” Brian countered, though he had his doubts it could ever actually be easy. But if he was going to flip out, he’d much rather Dom was there when it happened. Dom always gave him a sense of unfailing protection.

Before Mia could say whatever she was about to, the comadron said, “I want to meet Mr. Ferrante. Que hora—what time will he be home?”

“Why?” Brian immediately felt hunted. “You can meet him when I come for the ultrasonido.”

The comadron smiled pleasantly again. “I like to meet my patients’ partners.”

Sinking into his chair, Brian swallowed. Somehow, he was feeling threatened again. “I-I don’t want you to discuss my medical history with him. I-I can't. Not yet.”

Mia took over again in Spanish. “There are certain things my brother-in-law hasn’t discussed with my brother, Vittorio, yet. As I said, my brother-in-law is very nervous. He’s had some very upsetting experiences. The abduction and assault were recent. I place no blame on him.”

“Does,” Mr. Godinez asked of Brian, “your husband know about the assault?”

“Si,” Brian answered, mouth dry. He felt the baby shift inside. “It’s just that…He doesn’t know…I never told him…”

Thankfully, Mia dove in again. “About the miscarriage. Vittorio doesn’t know about that.”

Mr. Godinez nodded. He drew a cell phone from his other pocket and tipped open the planner again. “I’ll call the clinica to schedule the ultrasonido. You said you haven’t had one with this pregnancy and you’re between five and six months; I’ll schedule it as soon as possible.”

Folding her arms, Mia took a seat on one of the armchairs. She looked uncertain and closed, but said nothing.

Surprisingly, Mr. Godinez was able to arrange the appointment for Friday morning. Even though Dom was supposed to work that day, Brian knew that all he had to do was tell his husband and that would be sufficient; it was understood he felt the baby was far more important than his job. However, it left Brian feeling like he didn’t have time to psych himself into it. He was given the address with a map of how to get to the clinic along with instructions to drink a liter of water prior to the ultrasound.

“A liter of water?” Brian immediately protested. “What for?”

Mr. Godinez was unfazed, as if he was used to the question. “To facilitate the ultrasonido. For a clear view of the organs in the pelvis.”

“What’s the water got to do with looking in there?” Brian argued. “How many ounces of water is that, anyway?” He was having a hard time making the conversion; all he knew was a liter bottle seemed like a hell of lot to drink at once.

“Around,” Mia supplied, “thirty-two ounces or four eight ounce glasses of water.”

“All that?” Brian cast her a deranged look. “I’m not drinking all that before we drive over there. You know how hard it is to find any public restrooms here in Baja, let alone any clean, working--”

Again, Mr. Godinez fielded. “You must come to clinica with full bladder.”

“What?” Brian was further incensed. “You want me to drink all that and hold it? You ever been pregnant and had to hold it with a baby kickin’ the crap--?”

Mia abruptly interrupted. “He’ll do his best to do what he needs for the ultrasound.”

Much as Brian resolved to ignore the last instructions, importantly he’d managed to struggle through the visit without submitting to any physical probing other than for his vital signs. That, he had to admit, he owed to Mia’s gallantry. If he could have skipped the test, he would have. It sounded a lot worse than he’d expected, with the added hassle of having to suffer a baby who hated being crowded by his mom’s full bladder. Everyone agreed an ultrasound was a necessity, the midwife apparently of the belief it was so vital, he demanded to have the test done in two short days. 

After seeing Mr. Godinez out the front door, Brian turned back to thank Mia for making the experience bearable only to find the living room empty.

It occurred to him it would be easiest not to say anything to her, and leave things the way they’d been since last Saturday. But he realized she’d gone out of her way to help him despite that he’d been treating her like a leper.

He’d already planned to spend the day avoiding her as usual in any way possible. As difficult as it was gonna be, he’d have to face her. He heard her back in the kitchen, putting the shopping away. Uncomfortable, he entered the kitchen and wordlessly assisted her.

Her response was to take the wax paper and cling wrap boxes from him to put away herself. “Aren't you afraid of my cooties?” she said dryly.

“N-no. Nothing like that. Look, Mia, I-I wanted to say thanks.” It annoyed him that he’d been stuttering since the comadron had arrived and couldn’t seem to control it.

“I ought a have my head examined,” she muttered while yanking open drawers. “You know, I would have liked to learn how to take the measurement.”

Having been so focused on freaking on the possibility of having to take off any clothes, he hadn’t even thought of that. “You-you don’t know how?”

“Why should I?” she asked, sounding unhappy about it. “I'm only a student. I haven’t had a lot of practical experience. I’ve mostly only studied theory.”

“But, I thought you knew. You even knew you needed to get a what-you-ma-call it. I figured you knew all about it.”

“Doesn’t mean I knew how to use it. I was going to buy it then hope to figure out how to use it with my textbooks.”

Great. She was going to sit there and play with the damn thing on him. Thankfully he’d foiled that scenario. Although the thought of having the comadron monkeying around with some instrument on his pelvis didn’t make him any less nervous. At least Dom would be there during it. If Mia had just allowed Dom to be present during her exam, Brian wouldn’t feel so fucking apprehensive around her. He sure as hell never would have wound up doing what he did.

“Doesn’t matter to you, anyway.” Apparently she’d taken his silence as an indication that he’d grown bored of the subject.

Even though that wasn’t the case, he could have made it easy on himself and walked away then. But considering all she’d done when she didn’t have to, he couldn’t. “Yes, it does. I didn’t know you didn’t know how.” Not that he would have let her do any measuring without Dom around. “I-I've been acting like an asshole and I'm sorry.” Although she wasn’t looking anywhere near him, he dropped his gaze in shame. “You don’t deserve that. Really. I feel like crap for treating you like I have. Thanks a lot for helping me out in there with the comadron. You helped me out more than you’ll ever know.” He finally glanced up to reach for one of the totes to dig out more shopping.

“You hated it, didn’t you?” Her gaze was in the cupboard as she shelved spices.

About to go on, he paused, puzzled. “Hated what?”

“Hated doing what you did to me. I was terrible, I know. I'm the one who should be apologizing.”

Taken completely by surprised, he frowned. “Terrible? What?”

“I-I don’t know how to do that, either.” Her voice cracked as she started to cry.

“Mia.” Brian quickly set aside the bottle of glass cleaner he was holding. “Come on. The only thing I hated was myself for doing it.”

Tears escaped beneath her lashes. “You hated it that bad?”

“No,” he quickly amended. “I hated myself. That’s why I’ve been acting like a jerk, avoiding you all over the place. 'Cos of myself. I loved it, it was fantastic. Thing is, I shouldn’t have loved it. I've got a husband, you know?”

Sniffing, it was her turn to pause. Her pretty eyes stole up to meet his gaze. “Fantastic?”

“I couldn’t have made it more obvious, the way I…” He turned his head away, embarrassed. “Yeah, fantastic.”

“Here you had me thinking I grossed you out, the way you put so much space between us. And now you wouldn’t let me help do the measurement.”

“It could be a bad mistake,” Brian said, pushing to maneuver the narrative for the best effect. “Letting you touch me again.”

He succeeded at getting her to flash her dainty Mona Lisa smile and blush slightly. “That wouldn’t be a mistake…”

“For me it would. I can't do that to your brother.”

Stepping in close, she shifted coyly against him. “I won't tell,” she whispered.

“You don’t got to.” Brian gathered himself, knowing he couldn’t keep from telling the truth at that point. He drew back a half a step. “I would.”

“But, you don’t have to…”

“I would anyway. I couldn’t keep myself from telling him the first time. It just all came out. I’d do it again.” Dom had changed Brian in more ways than he’d thought. Dom had already turned him into a wife and a mom. Not even Rome had made Brian seriously contemplate those states of being. “I can’t lie to him anymore.”

~~~

Friday—October 27

Fuck work. Soon as Dom found out when the sonogram was to take place, there was no question of whether he’d be going to work or not. 

Bad news was that it had to take place in Tijuana. That was the nearest facility around and it wasn’t near. It was some 180-odd miles back north again. They might as well drive back to the States so Brian could see his old family doctor. Almost. The doctor in Barstow had said he was always willing to tend Brian, no matter what. Then Dom remembered the chance he’d be taking in driving back across the border. He’d been lucky to have got out of the U.S. when he did, all for the sake of Brian. Looking to his wife and his belly with tender concern, all Dom could think of was that the risk had been so worth it. If he hadn’t, he would have not only left Brian behind, but their child—a child he’d never know about. Depending on how fast they drove, it would take between four and five hours one-way. Much as Dom wanted his wife to take it easy, there was no way Brian wasn’t going to jump at the chance to drive since they’d argued him down to a lot less racing.

Just as they left, Mia passed Brian a liter bottle of water and reminded him to drink it on the way. That was pretty much all she said. She’d stopped doing her morning testing on him. Not even taking his vital signs. Since Brian now had a midwife, Dom supposed she’d hung up her stethoscope. At least she and Brian were on terms where they’d communicate, though the mood had changed somewhat between them. At least Brian wasn’t dodging her anymore. Mia, however, had become kind a dispassionate and aloof around him again like she was back in Echo Park after Dom had begun actively dating him. It was Dom’s hope they’d get over that one day and act like they were actually on friendly terms with each other. It would be something to shoot for.

The drive was long but not boring since they had each other’s company. Brian never drank any of the water Mia had supplied, but Dom did when they were close to Tijuana.

A few miles out of Tijuana, Brian started to get tired and cranky. Dom offered to take over driving, but Brian was sure just trying to locate the place and the traffic would wake him. It did. The place was swarming with freight trucks that added to the chaos.

At the address they found a crappy-looking, partly graffitied, building decorated with loud-colored paint. The words “Diagnostico Medico” were emblazoned on the sign above the doors. Sure, it didn’t look like a professional Beverly Hills office, but Dom was hoping that the place would at least looked hygienic. If he’d needed treatment there, he wouldn’t have cared about the dilapidated, disrepaired state of the building. This was different. This was for his wife and child. “I’m sorry about this, honey,” he told Brian as he parked.

Brian didn’t seem to understand the reason for the apology.

Despite hard, cheap chairs that appeared to be holdovers from the ‘60s, within moments of checking in, Brian took off the buttoned shirt he’d worn over a long-sleeved knit pullover and draped it on his lap. Good thing, too, 'cos he was soon sleeping against Dom’s shoulder and that long piece of wood he was sporting would have been way too obvious. Dom slipped his arm around him supportively.

The wait wasn’t even an hour. They were taken to a room where Brian was instructed to lie on a thinly padded, duct-taped and worn vinyl table. He was given an equally worn, grayish sheet and told to raise his shirt and lower his pants just enough to expose his rounded abdomen.

After the technician slathered his belly with shiny gel, he prodded Brian with a flat-ended probe attached by a cord to a piece of equipment that wouldn’t look out of place in a garage. The gel allowed the probe to slick over his abdomen, but he was still uncomfortable.

“Son-of-a-bitch, that’s cold,” Brian groused. “Could you poke any harder? The baby’s already kicking a hole right through me.”

It was very uneventful. The tech continued to say very little other than instructions. He clicked the keyboard as he worked. When he was done, he gave Brian a towel to wipe up and told him where the restroom was. While Brian was occupied in there, the tech showed Dom another room and placed a threadbare gown on the examining table. In Spanish, he told Dom to have his wife undress completely from the waist down and wait on the table. Dom could wait at the door for him to return from the bathroom.

Though it seemed cut-and-dried enough, Dom was a mildly surprised by the baleful dagger-like glare from his wife’s eyes at this request. “What the hell for?” he demanded.

That was a question Dom hadn’t even thought to pose. “I'm guessing there’s something more they gotta do.”

A flash of recognition. That didn’t make Brian any more receptive, though. “I don't know about this. I-I thought it’d be all right, but I changed my mind. This is somebody else altogether. I didn’t even wanna let Mr. Godinez do it, but I don’t know this guy at all.”

Dom was confused. “I don’t get it. What’s wrong?”

“They still wanna measure me!” Brian hissed. “I don’t wanna be measured. I’ve changed my mind. I'm not takin’ my pants off!”

“Honey.” Dom could see Brian was surprisingly disturbed. “You sure? I don't want you to do something you don’t want to.”

“Let’s just go.” Brian grabbed the shirt Dom had been holding for him and swept it on. “Mr. Godinez can do it next time I see him. Only I want you there when he does it.”

It didn’t sound like Brian would ever permit it, Dom thought. In fact, it sounded like a longshot that he’d so much as permit anyone to deliver him other than Dom. That made it all the more unlikely that anything could have transpired between Brian and Mia. Unless she’d added to the trauma he’d suffered at the hands of his kidnapper.

~~~


End file.
